Precision Cancer Medicine: Challenges and Opportunities

Genomic sequencing technologies have augmented the classification of cancer beyond tissue of origin and towards a molecular taxonomy of cancer. This has created opportunities to guide treatment decisions for individual patients with cancer based on their cancer’s unique molecular characteristics, also known as precision cancer medicine. The purpose of this text will be to describe the contribution and need for multiple disciplines working together to deliver precision cancer medicine. This entails a multi-disciplinary approach across fields including molecular pathology, computational biology, clinical oncology, cancer biology, drug development, genetics, immunology, and bioethics. Thus, we have outlined a current text on each of these fields as they work together to overcome various challenges and create opportunities to deliver precision cancer medicine. As trainees and junior faculty enter their respective fields, this text will provide a framework for understanding the role and responsibility for each specialist to contribute to this team science approach.

· 

1.  Between Hype and Hope, on the Cutting Edge of Precision Cancer Medicine

· 

2.  Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer: A Fundamental Component of Precision Oncology

· 

3.  Clinical Interpretation

· 

4.  Precision Cancer Medicine and Clinical Trial Design

· 

5.  Resistance to Anti-Cancer Therapeutics

· 

6.  Exceptional Responders

· 

7.  Immunogenomics

· 

8.  Managing Germline Findings from Molecular Testing in Precision Oncology

· 

9.  Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Precision Cancer Medicine

· 

10.  Liquid Biopsy: Translating Minimally Invasive Disease Profiling from the Lab to the Clinic

· 

11.  Data Portals and Analysis