New Genetic test changes cancer patients prognosis

Would you want to know if you were dying?

This question is brought up time and time again throughout this article. Ocular melanoma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the cells that produce pigment. Just like developing melanoma on your skin you can also develop in within your eye. New technology used and created by Dr. J. William Harbour is exciting uplifting news for patients with ocular melanoma.  This type of cancer is classified into two classes, class 1 and 2. Class 1 patients, almost half, can be cured when the tumor is removed, leaving them with a bright future. Class 2 patients, almost 70/80%, will die within the next five years. The cancer reemerges in the liver and there is no cure. By removing the eye and biopsying the tumor, researches are able to see what type of genes it contains and what their patients future holds.

“The genes themselves were no different. But a group of several hundred genes that looked the same in cells from patients in Class 1 and Class 2 were acting differently in the patients who did poorly. The genes were churning out many more proteins in the cells of patients in Class 2." 

"Dr. Harbour found that he could look at the activity of 12 of those genes and predict how well a patient would do” (Kolata, 2012). 

I believe this new genetic testing is amazing and needs to be looked at and further researched for testing on different types of cancers and tumors.

Links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/genetic-test-changes-game-in-cancer-prognosis.html

_{another link for more information on ocular melanoma: http://www.ocularmelanoma.org/}