The way we name tumors needs to change!
The 4th February of every year is always dedicated as World Cancer Day. The primary goal of World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer. In a timely reminder of how we can do this better in 2024, an exhortative commentary in Nature suggests that perhaps the way we name and classify cancers is actually retrograde. The authors say that even classifying metastatic cancers according to their organ of origin is hampering access to potentially life-saving drugs. What’s at the heart of this commentary is that we now know so much more about the molecular details or origins of different cancers and we already have sophisticated cancer drugs that precisely target these molecular targets that treating cancers based JUST on their tumor origins just doesn’t make sense any more. We’ve got to let go of our current tumor naming convention. What’s the alternative? Quick answer – improve access to molecular testing. And if your tumor has a molecular signature that aligns with an available precision drug, you’ve probably got a far better chance of reducing your illness, and it may matter less where your tumor origin is. The clinical evidence is already compelling. We need to change our mindset.
READ THE ARTICLE – https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00216-3?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=nature&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1706725921