The BC Cancer Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program is a clinical research program which studies the genomic sequencing of cancer tumours to help doctors develop unique treatment options for patients with advanced cancer. Cancer progression and treatment resistance continues to be among the major causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. After reviewing the first 570 patients, the DNA sequencing review has revealed genetic alterations that occur within tumours following treatment. These alterations, or ‘scars’, can lead to drug resistance and cancer progression. This new understanding now provides valuable insight into predicting which patients my benefit from specific types of cancer therapies.
For example, one of the most striking findings suggests that patients exposed to platinum-based treatments for more than one year had approximately twice as many genetic ‘scars’ than those who were not exposed. Another finding uncovered that there are specific genetic ‘scars’ found related to specific drug combinations. This discovery means patients may see improved outcomes with immunotherapy but may also see more evolved resistance to treatment in the future. The advancement builds on researchers understanding of cancer biology, especially when it comes to advanced and previously treated cancers.
To date more than 1,000 patients have been enrolled in the POG program. Click the links for more information on the POG program, the POG 570 study, or how to support the POG program.
The Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program at BC Cancer aims to sequence the genomes (the DNA within the cancer) and transcriptomes (the way the DNA is read by cancer cells) of patients with advanced disease to gain crucial insight into cancer progression, metastasis and drug resistance, and ideally, to guide individual treatment planning. To date, the POG program has enrolled more than 1,000 patients and has influence treatment planning and improved the quality of life for hundreds of individual cancer patients in B.C.
