Cancer Genetics and Implications for Clinical Management.

There is now compelling evidence that the molecular heterogeneity of cancer is associated with disparate phenotypes with variable outcomes and therapeutic responsiveness to therapy in histologically indistinguishable cancers. This diversity may explain why conventional clinical trial designs have mostly failed to show efficacy when patients are enrolled in an unselected fashion. Knowledge of the molecular phenotype has the potential to improve therapeutic selection and hence the early delivery of the optimal therapeutic regimen. Resolution of the challenges associated with a more stratified approach to health care will ensure more precise diagnostics and enhance therapeutic selection, which will improve overall outcomes.