Target Your Cancer

Tumor profiling, which is a term that emerged from the Human Genome Project, is an alternative to the one-size-fits-all approach to cancer treatment and uses a focused approach to treatment that specifically targets an individual patient’s tumor. Most importantly, the type of personalized cancer care brought about by tumor profiling may increase the likelihood that patients will benefit from cancer therapy.

Caris Molecular Intelligence is a tumor profiling service that marks an important step forward in oncology and reflects a trend toward personalized cancer care. Nebraska Cancer Specialists uses Caris Molecular Intelligence to identify the specific genetic aspects of a person’s tumor, called biomarkers, which we can then potentially target. Targeting a tumor means attacking attributes of the tumor that are allowing it to grow and spread, and customizing a treatment plan specifically designed to alter the growth and development of a specific patient’s tumor. This enhances the possibility that the patient will respond favorably to therapy.

Caris Molecular Intelligence helps us to determine which treatments may be more likely to be effective, as well as those that may not be effective, and it can also help us to identify important treatment options that might not otherwise have been considered.

Tumor profiling is performed with the use of a tumor profiling service that tests tumors for specific genetic and molecular information. The tumor profiling service we use is the Caris Molecular Intelligence evidence-based tumor system. We offer Caris Molecular Intelligence after a cancer diagnosis, and using tumor samples obtained from biopsy. The tumor is analyzed to identify biomarkers that can be targeted by various available drugs. Using this information, Caris Molecular Intelligence provides valuable information about the tumor and potential therapies that may be more likely to produce a positive response.

Tumor profiling from Caris Molecular Intelligence begins with an analysis of a tumor and identification of its specific biomarkers or “targets.” This information is then matched to published studies from the world’s leading cancer researchers to identify therapies with a higher possibility of clinical benefit, as well as therapies that may be unlikely to offer benefit. New research in cancer and biomarkers continually emerges, making the Caris Molecular Intelligence tumor profiling service critically important because it identifies new biomarkers and therapies from the clinical and medical literature. This ensures that we are working with some of the latest and relevant medical information as we make treatment decisions with our patients.

This type of tumor profiling service is well suited most types of cancer, including patients with aggressive disease, rare cancers, those with limited treatment options, as well as those who may have multiple options from which to choose.

Through tumor profiling, we may be able to increase the possibility that our patients will respond favorably to therapy, and thereby avoid the potential side effects and the costs associated with a therapy that may be less likely to help the patient.

The tumor profiling service, Caris Molecular Intelligence, examines the genetic and molecular changes unique to a patient’s tumor so that treatment options may be matched to the tumor’s molecular profile. Caris Molecular Intelligence provides information that may help patients and their physicians create a cancer treatment plan based on the tumor tested. By comparing the tumor’s information with data from published clinical studies by thousands of the world’s leading cancer researchers, Caris Molecular Intelligence can help identify which treatments may be the most effective, and, just as important, which treatments may be ineffective. Many of our patients have benefitted from increased progression-free survival rates (time during which the cancer did not grow or spread) and improved quality of life, both of which are very important factors to patients with advanced forms of the disease. There are different types of patients who can benefit from or who are good candidates for this oncology service.

Caris Molecular Intelligence may be helpful for certain solid tumor cancer patients, and you may be a good candidate if:

• You have a rare, aggressive or advanced cancer
• You have not been responsive to previous treatment(s)
• You are facing limited treatment options
• You have multiple treatment options to choose between
• You and your doctor are exploring treatment options because the best treatment plan is not clear

Caris Molecular Intelligence may be helpful for a wide variety of solid tumors, and you may be a good candidate if you have an aggressive or advanced cancer, you have not been responsive to therapy, you have a rare cancer, you are facing limited treatment options or you and your doctor are exploring treatment options but the best treatment plan is not clear. Contact our office today to determine if you are a good candidate.

Medicare and other insurance providers typically reimburse the cost for this service. The laboratory we use for tumor profiling will bill your insurance company. Contact our office to see of your plan covers tumor profiling.