DETROIT – Researchers are taking a new approach and using genetic testing to unlock causes and potential treatments for certain cancers.
The new approach is bringing hope to some patients who don’t respond to traditional therapies. Researchers are exploring ways to get treatment to those patients.
Pancreatic cancer survivor Doug Hull said he was losing hope when his cancer stopped responding to treatment. But genetic testing revealed he had a specific mutation that was being studied at Ohio State’s James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
“It looks like there’s only one thing that can give us hope, and that one thing is potentially only available in one place,” Hull said.
He flew from Florida to Ohio to meet with the research team, and they told him they could help.
Researchers have learned that mutations in fibroblast growth factor receptors allow cancer cells to invade quickly and aggressively.
“We’re starting to connect genetic changes in cancer with how patients do and connecting it to therapy,” said Dr. Sameek Roychowdhury, of the OSU James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
Researchers are conducting what’s called a “basket trial,” which enrolls patients based on their genetic mutation, rather than their type of cancer.
“It’s a basket of different cancers, certain types of genetic changes, and we can offer them a novel therapy to treat genetic change,” Roychowdhury said.
Three years later, Hull said he’s feeling great. He was one of the first to participate in this type of clinical research from his home, which is hundreds of miles away from the doctor who treated him.
He hopes his story will give others hope in their fights against cancer.