The Genomic Era of Clinical Oncology: Integrated Genomic Analysis for Precision Cancer Care

Genomic alterations are important biological markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, disease classification, risk stratification, and treatment selection. Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are superb new tools for evaluating cancer genomes. These state-of-the-art technologies offer high-throughput, highly accurate, targeted and whole-genome evaluation of genomic alterations in tumor tissues. The application of CMA and NGS technologies in cancer research has generated a wealth of useful information about the landscape of genomic alterations in cancer and their implications in cancer care. As the knowledge base in cancer genomics and genome biology grows, the focus of research is now shifting toward the clinical applications of these technologies to improve patient care. Although not yet standard of care in cancer, there is an increasing interest among the cancer genomics communities in applying these new technologies to cancer diagnosis in the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified laboratories. Many clinical laboratories have already started adopting these technologies for cancer genomic analysis. We anticipate that CMA and NGS will soon become the major diagnostic means for cancer genomic analysis to meet the increasing demands of precision cancer care. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel