Recent Advances in Cancer Genome Medicine: Applications of Omics Approaches in Characterizing Cancer

Recent advances in cancer genomics have clarified that cancer develops toward extensive heterogeneity, which might link to represent complexities in clinical presentation, disease outcome, and treatment response. Precision cancer medicine, also known as cancer genome medicine, is the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient with cancer. Prior to the post-genome era, we developed good examples of precision medicine, which could be learned from antibody-based treatments, such as trastuzumab for patients with breast cancer and rituximab for those with non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Both treatments have successfully contributed to the clinical outcomes of patients. Recent high-throughput genomics enables comprehensive somatic and/or germ-line mutation profiling, helping to more accurately identify subgroups of patients who may better respond to current molecular-targeted therapeutics. A deep understanding of genomic alterations in cancer patients may help to optimize potentially toxic medications and/or to improve the quality of life. However, there are many challenges and factors to affect precision medicine in the future. In the Special Issue, we discuss recent efforts to develop promising applications for precision cancer medicine.

16/03/2025