Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD (Kenneth G. and Elaine A. Langone Scholar of the Damon Runyon Foundation '06-'08) and colleagues report on a technique that is poised to revolutionize cancer diagnosis and monitoring. In the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology, the research team reports that most of the genetic activity of a tumor can be measured by looking at images from radiology scans like the standard CT scans that most cancer patients routinely get. This technology could avoid the pain and risk of infection associated with surgical biopsies, while providing information that could lead to a more personalized diagnosis and treatment - one based on the unique genetic features of an individual patients’ disease. Importantly, this approach would not destroy the tissue so the same site could be tested again and again, providing important information about how the tumor is responding to therapy.

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