Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
For each patient, the aggressiveness of their colorectal
cancer could be different. Let's talk about why.
We can now understand better why there is this difference in aggressiveness
between individual colon cancers. We are beginning to decipher the genes, the
genetic code of colon cancer and we can tell by testing for some of those, what
we call markers or molecular markers, how that patient will respond to therapy
and what would be the life expectancy for that patient compared to some other
patients that may have different molecular markers. Examples include some
of the cancer genes such as KRAS or BRAF and we are beginning to test all
of our patients with colon cancer for these genes to better understand what is
their prognosis and what is the best way to treat their cancer. As a medical
oncologist, this gives me an opportunity to better tailor the treatment for individual
patients to minimize the side effects and maximize the benefit of the treatment.