The ability to create increasingly complex genomic data generated directly from patient tumors may impact our understanding of cancer and affect clinical decisions about cancer treatment. As the quantity of genomic data generated from individual cancer patients greatly expands, innovations will be needed to successfully implement large-scale genomics at the point-of-care. These include new ways to 1) interpret large-scale data from individual patients and 2) understand why patients respond (or don't respond) to existing and emerging cancer therapies such as targeted therapies, chemotherapies, and immunotherapies. Dr. Van Allen will explore how the emerging discipline of clinical computational oncology is powering new approaches for the clinical interpretation of large-scale genomic data and how these data are helping physicians understand why certain patients benefit from cancer therapies when others do not. While still in its infancy, this new field of clinical computational oncology may drive the widespread implementation of precision cancer medicine in the years to come.
2016 MIT Digital Health Conference
Stephanie Woerner Principal Research Scientist; Executive Director, Center for Information Systems Research; MIT Sloan School of Management