Tumour profiling or molecular profiling is a more personalised cancer treatment that looks into a person's tumour cells at the genetic level.
Using this method, doctors or oncologists can now identify the tumour's unique biomarker and determine a more precise drug.
"Profiling tumor would not only improve clinical outcomes but it can also reduce the cost of the treatment, specifically on expensive drugs, avoiding unnecessary side effects and unnecessary toxicity," said oncologist Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Wahid.
The medical director and consultant clinical oncologist of the Beacon International Specialist Centre spoke to reporters during the Launch of Caris Molecular Intelligence recently.
He said the standard treatment now is largely based on where the tumour is located.
By trial and error
Cancer patients are also often given standard treatment that is then adjusted based on trial and error.
This means that if the first treatment does not control cancer, the oncologist will move on to the next most common option and continue to do so until they find the right therapy for the patient.
This approach works for some patients but not everyone.
Some patients experience ineffective treatment outcomes such as under-treatment, over-treatment, side-effects and a small number of patients might suffer from severe toxic effects.
This affects patients' quality of life and some end up exhausting all of the standard options because their cancers do not respond to any of the treatments given to them.
"We tend to use the 'one size fits them all' method.
"We give a very global treatment, but not everyone benefits from it, such as chemotheraphy.
Finding out why treatment fails
"Many of these treatments may eventually fail, but we don't answer questions on why they failed, why chemotheraphy works on some patients but not the others," he said.
Dr Mohamed Ibrahim believes that the future of cancer treatment will be a more personalised and tailor-made therapy.
However, Prof Dr Cheong Sok Ching of Cancer Research Malaysia (CRM), said that the method is currently only applicable to certain types of cancer, for example, breast,
lung and colorectal cancers.
She pointed out while tumour profiling is important in determining which patient would respond to a specific therapy, currently, there were only a handful of genetic features that would affect cancer therapies.
"Which means there remains a lot of work (to be done)in this area," Cheong told Bernama in a separate interview.
She further explained that in Malaysia there were only a certain kind of tumour profiling available, for example, whether a tumor has the HER2 gene which makes the tumour likely to respond to a drug called Herceptin.
More complex tumour profiling such as those that sequence the entire genome of the cancer is accessible, although the test is not being run in the country.
Support for cancer patients
Cheong added that CRM aims to identify genes that can help researchers understand why certain patients do not respond to cancer therapies as effectively as they should.
In another development, Caris Life Sciences, a biotechnology company based in the United States, has set up an online portal MyCancer.com (www.mycancer.com).
The website provides information on molecular profiling, cancer biomarkers and the transformation of emerging research in cancer treatment.
It takes cancer patients on a step by step journey by breaking down complicated topics and terminology to ease the process, while providing resources and information to help patients be proactive in battling cancer.
It is also designed to help caregivers in supporting cancer patients through their journey in fighting cancer.
The incidence of cancer in Malaysia increased from 32,000 new cases in 2008 to 37,400 cases in 2012. This number is expected to rise to over 56,000 by 2025.
- Bernama