14 November 2016 - Five or 6 years ago, only 5% to 10% of patients at David Hong's clinic arrived with a mutational profile of their tumour. Today, it’s more like 25% to 30%. 

They come bearing their tumour profile in the hope that they’ll qualify for one of a growing number of clinical trials targeting specific biomarkers, a strategy called precision medicine. Desperate, some come already knowing that they qualify for a particular trial, thanks to Facebook groups for cancer patients whose tumours share the same genetic abnormality and other online resources.

Read JAMA article