PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cienne Morton
AU  - Debashis Sarker
AU  - Paul Ross
TI  - Next-generation sequencing and molecular therapy
AID  - 10.7861/clinmed.2022-0514
DP  - 2023 Jan 01
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - 65--69
VI  - 23
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/23/1/65.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/23/1/65.full
SO  - Clin Med2023 Jan 01; 23
AB  - Cancers contain a plethora of mutations, few of which are critical to maintaining a state of malignancy. With our ever-expanding understanding of the genomic complexity of cancer, potentially actionable biomarkers whose inhibition could cripple cancer growth are increasingly being elucidated. Modern cancer drug development has largely switched from cytotoxic agents to targeted therapies and immunotherapy, with noteworthy success in several cancer types including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer and melanoma. Next-generation sequencing offers high-throughput, widescale genomic interrogation in a far more efficient and affordable manner than previous sequencing methods. This facilitates detection of potentially actionable mutations and fusions for individual patients and contributes to the identification of novel predictive and prognostic biomarkers in a population. Challenges in the technical aspects of biopsy and sequencing, interpretation, and development of targeted therapies against common genomic aberrations will need to be addressed for personalised medicine to become a reality for more patients with cancer.