Molecular Testing for Targeted Cancer Therapy

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College of American Pathologists
Molecular Testing for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Posted October 5, 2007

Statement

The College of American Pathologists supports the appropriate use of
molecular testing by pathologists for the targeted treatment of cancer.

Information Highlights

* Pathologists are doctors who identify and diagnose cancers and other
diseases.
* New scientific advances have provided an improved understanding of
cancers at the molecular level, and pathologists are applying these
advances through molecular tests that may help you and your primary care
doctor in treating and managing your disease.
* Specifically, molecular testing allows pathologists to identify if
your cancer may respond to and be stopped by specific types of drugs.
* Significant advances have also been made in the understanding of how
normal genetic variations in people affect the body’s processing of
various drugs, including agents used to treat cancer.
* Some individuals process drugs rapidly, some much more slowly.
Understanding a patient’s genetic program for processing drugs helps
pathologists advise other doctors whether some drugs may not be optimal
for a patient or to suggest dosage changes to optimize results and
minimize side effects.
* Such tests are now available and can be run by pathologists in
accredited laboratories for cancers of the blood, lung cancer, breast
cancer, and some rare types of cancers.
* New research by pathologists suggests that additional tests can be
made for other cancers, such as prostate cancer.
* These tests can be run by pathologists in their accredited
laboratories by using blood samples or portions of the cancer tissue.
* The results of the tests, when reviewed by your pathologist and
primary care doctors, will define if a particular drug may be effective in
treating your cancer. In this way you are treated with drugs that are most
likely to stop your cancer, while drugs that are predicted to have side
effects and/or that are unlikely to stop your cancer can be avoided.
* These test results will help you to decide what is the best cancer
treatment for you.
* The College of American Pathologists believes that testing done in
accredited laboratories by pathologists are more likely to be done
properly and the results are most likely to be accurate.
* The College of American Pathologists is one of the national
organizations that monitors test performance and accredits laboratories as
a way to insure that testing is done accurately.