GETTING DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER IS A SCARY EXPERIENCE TO SAY THE
LEAST.
BUT TODAY WE HAVE TOOLS FOR EARLY
TESTING THAT ARE SAVING MORE LIVES.
DOCTORS CAN EVEN PREDICT TREATMENT
OUTCOMES LIKE NEVER BEFORE.
AND HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DR.
FRANCISCO VELAZQUEZ FROM PAML.
WELCOME BACK DOCTOR!
SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK.
PLEASURE TO BE HERE.
YOU KNOW, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT SO MANY THINGS.
BUT FIRST, I WANT YOU TO REMIND OUR AUDIENCE ABOUT PAML AND
WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO IMPROVE LABORATORY TESTING.
SURE.
SO, PAML, WE ARE A HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS
COMPANY WITH A FOCUS ON DIAGNOSTICS.
SO, WE HAVE ALL THE CLINICAL TESTING
THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR DOCTORS AND
PATIENTS BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE HAVE A LOT OF CONSUMER
GUIDED, CONSUMER ORIENTED OPTIONS.
FOR SCREENING WELLNESS AND ALSO FOR DISEASE.
SO IMPORTANT.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES
AVAILABLE TODAY IN DIAGNOSING CANCER?
SO, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE LAST 10 YEARS
OR SO, WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES
IN MOLECULAR GENETIC AND GENOMIC TESTING.
WHICH THEN ALLOWS US, NOT ONLY, TO
SPECIFICALLY LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUAL AND
KNOW WHICH THERAPIES ARE GOING TO WORK,
BUT ALSO ALLOWS US TO LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUAL'S
DISEASE, NOT CANCER IN GENERAL, AND KNOW
WHICH DRUGS WILL ACTUALLY WORK BETTER
WITH THAT TUMOR.
THAT'S SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE REALLY
NO CANCER, ALL CANCERS, AREN'T THE SAME.
YOU HAVE TO TREAT PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY, RIGHT?
WELL, GENOMICALLY, WE ARE ALL SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
AND THAT ACTUALLY MEANS THAT DRUGS THAT
MAY WORK FOR YOU, MAY NOT WORK FOR ME.
AND SINCE CANCER IS EVOLVED FROM YOUR
OWN CELLS.
THOSE CELLS THEMSELVES HAVE
GENERATED MATERIAL.
SO, THEY ACTUALLY BEHAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY.
SO, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE COMPOSITION
OF THE INDIVIDUAL AS WELL AS THEIR DISEASE
AND THAT WILL TELL YOU WITH A HIRE
DEGREE OF PROBABILITY WHICH DRUGS ARE
GOING TO WORK BETTER.
WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE IN CANCER THERAPY.
OH, THAT IS SO GOOD TO HEAR AND SO FASCINATING.
WE WANT YOU TO STAY RIGHT HERE BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO TALK
MORE ABOUT THAT AND THE BALANCING ACT WILL
BE RIGHT BACK.
(MUSIC) (MUSIC)
WE'RE BACK AND I'M SPEAKING WITH DR.
FRANCISCO VELAZQUEZ FROM PAML.
AND DOCTOR, BEFORE THE BREAK WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW CANCER
TREATMENTS HAVE BECOME MORE PERSONALIZED
AND HOW IS THIS IMPROVING THE OUTCOME FOR
PATIENTS?
SO, LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT OF A STORY TO ANSWER THAT.
GREAT.
SO, WHEN I STARTED PRACTICING MEDICINE,
ABOUT 30 PLUS YEARS AGO IN THE BOSTON AREA,
I WAS IN MY MID TWENTIES BY THE WAY.
JUST A DISCLAIMER.
ALRIGHT.
I USED TO TAKE CARE OF ADULT LEUKEMIA
PATIENTS.
AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WHICH IS NOT THAT FAR BACK,
MOST OF THOSE PATIENT'S DIED BECAUSE OF DISEASE PROGRESSION
OR COMPLICATIONS.
FAST FORWARD TO 2014 AND MOST OF THOSE
CAN BE TREATED INTO REMISSION.
PERHAPS EVEN CURED.
AND IF NOT, TREATED ALMOST AS A CHRONIC CONDITION AS OPPOSED TO
A DEATH SENTENCE WHICH IT WAS IN THE LATE 80'S.
THAT'S AMAZING THAT YOU'VE COME THAT
FAR FROM THE 80'S UNTIL NOW AND THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO SEE
THAT AND EXPERIENCE THAT.
AND I THINK THAT PROBABLY LENDS ITSELF
TO YOUR DOCTOR KNOWING YOU AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE
A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN THAT KNOWS YOU.
WELL, WE GO THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS
IN OUR LIFE.
HEALTH AND OTHERWISE.
AND IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO HAVE A PRIMARY
CARE PROVIDER WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS YOUR TOTAL HISTORY.
COORDINATES ALL OF YOUR ACTIVITIES
AND INSURES THAT YOU'RE PARTICIPATING
IN THE APPROPRIATE SCREENING PROGRAMS
FOR YOUR AGE AND GENDER.
BECAUSE ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE
HAVE MANAGED TO DECREASE THE MORTALITY
OF CANCER IS BECAUSE WE ALSO HAVE
VERY GOOD SCREENING PROGRAMS FOR SOME OF THE KEY CANCER TYPES
LIKE BREAST AND PROSTATE AND COLON.
WELL, WHAT ARE THE STEPS THAT WE CAN TAKE TO TRY TO AVOID CANCER
ALL TOGETHER?
WELL, I THINK THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT ANYBODY
CAN DO THAT SMOKES, IS QUIT SMOKING.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, LUNG CANCER IS STILL THE NUMBER
ONE TYPE OF CANCER NOT ONLY IN THE
U.S. BUT IN THE WORLD.
AND ACCORDING TO SOME OF THE STUDIES,
WE ARE GOING TO SEE THE INCIDENTS OF
CANCER GROW 15 TO 70 PERCENT BY 2030
MAINLY BECAUSE OF SMOKING IF YOU CONTINUE DOING THAT.
SO THAT'S ONE THING THAT YOU CAN DO.
NUMBER TWO: MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE PARTICIPATING
IN THE SCREENING PROGRAMS
THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR YOU.
CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING FOR WOMEN.
ALSO, BREAST EXAMS AND MAMMOGRAPHIES
AS INDICATED.
PSA FOR MEN.
ETCETERA, ETCETERA.
SO, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SCREENING
PROGRAMS THAT WE ALL NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN.
I THINK DIET IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SEE
THERE IS A STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN
DIET AND TYPES OF CANCER AROUND THE WORLD.
SO, DIETS THAT ARE WELL BALANCED.
THAT HAVE A LOT OF ANTIOXIDANTS, YOU KNOW, FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND
WHOLE GRAINS ARE ACTUALLY VERY GOOD FOR YOU.
AND AS WE ALL TRAVEL IN THIS GLOBAL ECONOMY,
YOU HAVE TO BE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT
THERE ARE STILL SOME ENVIRONMENTAL
CONCERNS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD THAT
WE SHOULD TRY TO AVOID SUCH AS ASBESTOS, ETCETERA.
GOT IT.
DOCTOR, TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GENOMIC TESTING
AND WHAT IT IS IN GENERAL.
SO AS A RESULT OF THE HUMAN GENONE PROJECT,
WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEQUENCE THE WHOLE HUMAN GENOME.
NOW, WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE PROBABLY 2 OR 3 THOUSAND
MUTATIONS, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T KNOW WHAT ALL OF THOSE
MEAN, BUT WE DO KNOW A SIGNIFICANT
NUMBER OF, IN PARTICULAR, THOSE ASSOCIATED
WITH PROBABILITY OF CANCER.
SO, WHAT THAT ALLOWS US TO DO IS TWO THINGS:
FIRST, WE CAN DETERMINE IF AN INDIVIDUAL MAY
BE AT A GREATER RISK.
SO WE CAN INTERVENE EARLIER.
AND WE HAVE SEEN THAT WITH PROPHYLACTIC MASTECTOMIES
FOR EXAMPLE.
FOR WOMEN.
SECOND, AS PART OF THE PHARMACAL GENOMICS APPLICATION,
WHICH IS BASED ON YOUR GENOMIC COMPOSITION.
HOW DO YOU TREAT THIS PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL.
WE CAN TAILOR MAKE THERAPIES FOR YOU
THAT IS THE SO CALLED PRECISION MEDICINE
OR PERSONALIZED MEDICINE.
RIGHT.
ONCOLOGISTS LIKE TO CALL IT PRECISION MEDICINE
BECAUSE THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY NICE TO THEIR PATIENTS.
AND I GREW UP AROUND THEM SO I CAN VOUCH FOR THAT.
AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, APPLYING TOOLS LIKE NEXT
GENERATION SEQUENCING.
WHICH ALLOWS US TO SEQUEN THOUSANDS OF
PARTS OF THE GENOMIC PROFILE OF A PARTICULAR TUMOR.
WE CAN FIND MUTATIONS THAT WILL TELL US,
YOU KNOW, FOR THIS PARTICULAR KIND OF LUNG CANCER,
THESE ARE THE THREE DRUGS THAT WORKED BEST
IN THIS COMBINATION FOR THIS PATIENT
WHICH IS SOMETHING WE CAN PROVIDE FOR
PHYSICIANS AND PATIENTS.
THAT IS SO AMAZING TO ME.
THE ADVANCEMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE
RIGHT HERE AND NOW BEFORE OUR EYES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THIS VALUABLE
INFORMATION DOCTOR, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
YOU'RE WELCOME, MY PLEASURE.
ALRIGHT, IF YOU'D LIKE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ABOUT GENOMIC TESTING, THERE IS A LINK AT
THEBALANCINGACT.COM AND IF YOU'D LIKE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION ON ONCOLOGY TESTING THERE'S A
LINK AT THEBALANCINGACT.COM
OR YOU CAN CONTACT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER DIRECTLY.