The genomic information is one piece of information that the care team may use to make treatment decisions. POG is not directly linked to any specific treatments and no treatments are guaranteed based on the POG information.
What are the main goals of POG? The program is setting out to decode the genome — the entire DNA inside the cell— of an individual patient’s cancer, to help understand what might be enabling it to grow and to potentially develop treatment strategies to block its growth. The overarching goal is to use the information to direct patients toward targeted therapy clinical trials whenever possible.
Who is eligible for POG? This is a highly experimental research program for cancer patients being treated at BC Cancer (BC residents only) with metastatic disease, either before any chemo or after one line of chemotherapy; there are some disease/type specific criteria that may also apply to individual cases. Currently the study can enrol 6-8 patients per week and thus they are a highly selected group. For more information on POG and eligibility, BC patients should speak to their medical oncologist at their next scheduled visit. There are many other provinces with cancer genomic studies, patients should discuss their interest in clinical trials with their medical oncologist to explore their local options.
Who do I contact for more information on POG? For more information on POG and eligibility, patients should speak to their medical oncologist.
How do patients get enrolled in POG? Patients should discuss their clinical treatment options, including clinical trials and POG with their oncologist.
Further questions regarding POG can be directed to POGinfo@bcgsc.ca.
Additional information on the POG program can be found on the BC Cancer Foundation
website.
