Cancer patients and their doctors have a new resource when trying to decide whether surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or a combination would be the best course of action: physician-scientists who are experts on gene-customized treatments for cancer increasingly provide recommendations via hospital panels called molecular tumor boards.

Nataliya Uboha, MD, PhD, assistant professor (CHS), Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, was quoted in national news coverage about gene tumor boards.

In health care systems across the US, including UW Health, experts on tumor boards study the molecular genetics of tumors from patients referred to the boards and provide treatment recommendations tailored to the genome of the tumor.

Dr. Uboha described the experience of a patient she referred to the UW Precision Medicine Molecular Tumor Board. “She was going to be referred to hospice; there was not much we could do,” said Dr. Uboha.

The panel gave several options including a phase II clinical study of targeted therapy for patients with advanced refractory solid tumors. The patient responded to therapy within two weeks, and her liver tumor shrank 75 percent.

Resources:

• "Ultra-personal therapy: Gene tumor boards guide cancer care," Associated Press, October 18, 2017