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A FRESH EXAMINATION OF PRECISION MEDICINE'S INCREASINGLY PROMINENT ROLE IN THE FIELD OF ONCOLOGY Precision medicine takes into account each patient's specific characteristics and requirements to arrive at treatment plans that are optimized towards the best possible outcome. As the field of oncology continues to advance, this tailored approach is becoming more and more prevalent, channelling data on genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and other areas into new and innovative methods of practice. Precision Medicine in Oncology draws together the essential research driving the field forward, providing oncology clinicians and trainees alike with an illuminating overview of the technology and thinking behind the breakthroughs currently being made. Topics covered include: Biologically-guided radiation therapy Informatics for precision medicine Molecular imaging Biomarkers for treatment assessment Big data Nanoplatforms Casting a spotlight on this emerging knowledge base and its impact upon the management of tumors, Precision Medicine in Oncology opens up new possibilities and ways of working not only for oncologists, but also for molecular biologists, radiologists, medical geneticists, and others.
This open access book gives an overview of the sessions, panel discussions, and outcomes of the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference, held in February 2018 in San Antonio, Texas, USA, and hosted by the Mays Cancer Center and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. Latinos – the largest, youngest, and fastest-growing minority group in the United States – are expected to face a 142% rise in cancer cases in coming years. Although there has been substantial advancement in cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment over the past few decades, addressing Latino cancer health disparities has not nearly kept pace with progress. The diverse and dynamic group of speakers and panelists brought together at the Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference provided in-depth insights as well as progress and actionable goals for Latino-focused basic science research, clinical best practices, community interventions, and what can be done by way of prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer in Latinos. These insights have been translated into the chapters included in this compendium; the chapters summarize the presentations and include current knowledge in the specific topic areas, identified gaps, and top priority areas for future cancer research in Latinos. Topics included among the chapters: Colorectal cancer disparities in Latinos: Genes vs. Environment Breast cancer risk and mortality in women of Latin American origin Differential cancer risk in Latinos: The role of diet Overcoming barriers for Latinos on cancer clinical trials Es tiempo: Engaging Latinas in cervical cancer research Emerging policies in U.S. health care Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos proves to be an indispensable resource offering key insights into actionable targets for basic science research, suggestions for clinical best practices and community interventions, and novel strategies and advocacy opportunities to reduce health disparities in Latino communities. It will find an engaged audience among researchers, academics, physicians and other healthcare professionals, patient advocates, students, and others with an interest in the broad field of Latino cancer.
Liquid Biopsy in Urogenital Cancers and Their Clinical Utility presents updated information on liquid biopsy techniques and their utility for diagnosing urological cancers. As a promising and recent diagnostic method, these techniques can be used for identifying tumors at initial stage, thus greatly improving treatment outcomes and survivorship. Chapters provide an overview of liquid biopsy as a new tool for diagnosis, monitoring and personalized medicine in urogenital cancers and explain its applicability in different cancer types, including bladder, prostate, kidney and testis tumors, female genital tract and pediatric urogenital tumors. This is a valuable resource for cancer researchers, oncologists, graduate students, urologists and biomedical researchers who need to understand more about liquid biopsy and its use for urogenital cancers. - Presents an overview on liquid biopsy techniques and their applications in cancer diagnosis - Explains how to extract circulating tumor DNA, RNA and circulating tumor cells and extracellular vehicles from blood samples to identify the urology cancers, including testis, prostate, bladder and kidney - Includes several images and schematic diagrams that illustrate content and facilitate its comprehension
This book reviews the current applications of molecular tools in cytopathology and provides a concise handbook for those who provide care in this era of personalized medicine. Specifically, the text provides a comprehensive and concise review of the emerging molecular tests available clinically in different subspecialities of diagnostic pathology. It reviews the current data of molecular testing already applied in cytopathology, discusses some of the biomarkers with potential utility in cytopathology in the near future and reviews the technical challenges in applying and validating molecular tools in liquid-based cytologic materials. Molecular Cytopathology will serve as a valuable resource for cytopathologists, cytotechnologists, pathology trainees, and clinicians with an interest in molecular applications in cytopathology.
Cancer cell biology research in general, and anti-cancer drug development specifically, still relies on standard cell culture techniques that place the cells in an unnatural environment. As a consequence, growing tumor cells in plastic dishes places a selective pressure that substantially alters their original molecular and phenotypic properties.The emerging field of regenerative medicine has developed bioengineered tissue platforms that can better mimic the structure and cellular heterogeneity of in vivo tissue, and are suitable for tumor bioengineering research. Microengineering technologies have resulted in advanced methods for creating and culturing 3-D human tissue. By encapsulating the respective cell type or combining several cell types to form tissues, these model organs can be viable for longer periods of time and are cultured to develop functional properties similar to native tissues. This approach recapitulates the dynamic role of cell–cell, cell–ECM, and mechanical interactions inside the tumor. Further incorporation of cells representative of the tumor stroma, such as endothelial cells (EC) and tumor fibroblasts, can mimic the in vivo tumor microenvironment. Collectively, bioengineered tumors create an important resource for the in vitro study of tumor growth in 3D including tumor biomechanics and the effects of anti-cancer drugs on 3D tumor tissue. These technologies have the potential to overcome current limitations to genetic and histological tumor classification and development of personalized therapies.
Genomic sequencing technologies have augmented the classification of cancer beyond tissue of origin and towards a molecular taxonomy of cancer. This has created opportunities to guide treatment decisions for individual patients with cancer based on their cancer’s unique molecular characteristics, also known as precision cancer medicine. The purpose of this text will be to describe the contribution and need for multiple disciplines working together to deliver precision cancer medicine. This entails a multi-disciplinary approach across fields including molecular pathology, computational biology, clinical oncology, cancer biology, drug development, genetics, immunology, and bioethics. Thus, we have outlined a current text on each of these fields as they work together to overcome various challenges and create opportunities to deliver precision cancer medicine. As trainees and junior faculty enter their respective fields, this text will provide a framework for understanding the role and responsibility for each specialist to contribute to this team science approach.
This text is designed to provide readers with a useful and comprehensive resource and state-of-the-art overview about the new, growing and fast-expanding field of “liquid biopsy” for the management of cancer patients. The liquid biopsy represents an important turning point in oncology since it provides a tool for a serial monitoring of disease. Liquid biopsy is our “hand lens” to follow molecular changes that characterize tumor development and progression. The book provide a unique and valuable resource on the clinical relevance of liquid biopsy as well as on the technical aspects of liquid biopsy analysis. All invited authors are recognized experts in their field. Liquid Biopsy in Cancer Patients: The Hand Lens for Tumor Evolution is targeted to resident and fellows physicians, medical oncologists, molecular biologists and biotechnologists.
As with other books in the Molecular Pathology Library Series, Molecular Pathology of Lung Cancer bridges the gap between the molecular specialist and the clinical practitioner, including the surgical pathologist who now has a key role in decisions regarding molecular targeted therapy for lung cancer. Molecular Pathology of Lung Cancer provides the latest information and current insights into the molecular basis for lung cancer, including precursor and preinvasive lesions, molecular diagnosis, molecular targeted therapy, molecular prognosis, molecular radiology and related fields for lung cancer generally and for the specific cell types. As many fundamental concepts about lung cancer have undergone revision in only the past few years, this book will likely be the first to comprehensively cover the new molecular pathology of lung cancer. It provides a foundation in this field for pathologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, thoracic surgeons, thoracic radiologists and their trainees, physician assistants, and nursing staff.
The Specialty Section “Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics” makes part of two different Journals: Frontiers in Pharmacology and Frontiers in Genetics. This Specialty Section focuses on the mechanisms by which genetic variations influence drug effects and adverse drug events, and cover basic research, clinical translation, applications in drug development and regulatory issues related to this field. Also, studies addressing the role of other factors such as epigenetics, phenotypic factors or drug-drug interactions on drug pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics are welcome. The editorial board is composed of 34 Associate Editors which, together with the Guest Associate Editors and the Reviewer Editors, constitute a team of nearly 340 leading experts in the field of Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics. This guarantees high quality in the reviewing process as well as short review times. A look back: 10 years of Frontiers in Pharmacogenetics & Pharmacogenomics (Continued in eBook)
