Dear Colleague,
It is with great enthusiasm that we present this, our first issue of 2016, to you. You will find that we are adapting our presentations to meet the learning needs of our reading community. Specifically, we are expanding our case study presentations to reflect trends in academia as well as the community to become more of a molecular tumor board in an effort to personalize care to patients. In this way, we further the goals of precision medicine to bring the right treatment to the right patient at the right time.
In this issue, you will find 2 compelling case studies, presented in a molecular tumor board style, discussing biomarkers for BRAF mutations in colorectal cancer and HER2 in gastrointestinal tumors. It is our hope that this presentation style is beneficial to you as you care for patients. We will continue to offer biomarker-driven therapy cases and welcome your submissions of molecular-based cases to editorial@personalizedmedonc.com<.
Also, we continue our Interview with the Innovators series. In this issue, we interview Drs Stanton L. Gerson and Zev A. Wainberg about the fascinating field of cancer stem cell research. This field has captured the attention of those in oncology care as the next area of potential great progress in our quest to cure patients with cancer. With recent advances in targeted therapies and immunotherapies, we have improved our ability to kill cancer cells. Addressing the issues of recurrence and metastases, and possibly the genesis of cancer, scientists are researching the characteristics of cancer stem cells in an effort to find pathways to eradicate these highly treatment-resistant cells.
We welcome your letters on these and any topics presented in PMO. Please submit your letters to us at editorial@personalizedmedonc.com. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO
Coeditor in Chief
Personalized Medicine in Oncology