Sharon Plon, MD, PhD, spoke to researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology about the results of incorporating genomic sequencing into the care of childhood cancer patients. Plon conducts her research at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Dr. Plon discussed findings from the BASIC3 (Baylor Advancing Sequencing into Childhood Cancer Care) project, funded as part of the Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research program from the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Cancer Institute. Nearly 300 pediatric cancer patients participated in whole exome sequencing of both tumor and germline (non-tumor) cells. Molecular testing identified mutations of potential clinical relevance in more than 25% of tumor samples. Sequence analysis also found almost 10% of patients were born with mutations in cancer susceptibility genes that explained the cause of their cancer.
The seminar was hosted by Greg Barsh, MD, PhD, and Greg Cooper, PhD.
More information on HudsonAlpha Research Seminars, including the upcoming schedule, can be found at hudsonalpha.org/seminars.
