Individualized treatment plans for metastatic cancer patients prolong survival rate

Specialists at the National Cancer Institute have discovered a way to prolong the life of lung cancer patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Metastatic cancer is the term used for cancer that has spread from a place where it first started and contains the same types of cells as the original tumor. Scientists extract DNA from the tumor and then analyze the mutations by using a special test called a PCR. A PCR or polymerase chain reaction is a biochemical technology used to amplify a single or a few copies of a piece of DNA, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. Based on the information gained from the test, specialists can develop personalized treatment plans including oral drugs and biomarkers that can sometimes be more beneficial than traditional chemotherapy or radiation techniques. Arrieta Rodriquez is the head of the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology and Translational Medicine Studies at the National Cancer Institute and reveals some amazing statistics. "We have achieved an improvement of 80 percent in the metastatic stage and three times the survival. i.e., 30 months with good quality of life, while chemotherapy the response is just 30 percent in some cases".  If you have had cancer or are currently undergoing cancer treatment and would like to help this research group on their current project, a public questionnaire is available that asks questions regarding your quality of life. (The page is in Spanish, but browsers such as Google Chrome allow it to be translated to English.)

Picture A shows primary lung tumor (arrow) with mediastinal nodal metastasis (bold arrow). Picture B is after three cycles of chemotherapy, which shows a large reduction (almost completely gone) in the primary tumor (arrow) but and increase in size and uptake of mediastinal nodes (bold arrow). Also, Picture B shows the appearance of new metastasis (arrowhead) in the lymph node of the armpit. 

Picture from: http://journal.sajc.org/article.asp?issn=2278-330X;year=2013;volume=2;issue=3;spage=171;epage=178;aulast=Sharma