I am on my flight back from ASCO, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, where over 20,000 oncologists from around the world discuss the newest data in clinical and translational research. This year’s theme was personalized oncology care. Read the rest of this entry »

Clarient Inc. announced the launch of a commercially available test for the BRAF mutation in colorectal cancer.  The test detects mutations in colorectal cancer tumor tissue.

In a recent study, patients with mutated BRAF did not respond to treatment with two drugs that block epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) — Erbitux® (cetuximab) and Vectibix™ (panitumumab).  Patients in the study all had normal, wild-type KRAS, another mutation that blocks response to Erbitux and Vectibix. Read the rest of this entry »