NEXT Study

This is a recent article about a new study I'm working on called the NEXT Medicine Trial:

NEXT Medicine Trial

Patients with a diagnosis of colon cancer now tend to get some form of genetic testing done to figure out what gene mutation might have caused their cancer. Often times (50%), they cannot find such a gene with the current standard of care. Finding out the implicated gene helps with determining an effective course of treatment. In this study, we'll be randomizing patients diagnosed with colon cancer to receive a new technology called exome sequencing. The thought is that this new technology will could find the culprit gene more often than standard of care.

As a part of the study, we'll also be telling patients about any other "incidental findings" from the exome sequencing... like, if colon cancer doesn't kill you - you may find out that you will likely get Alzheimer's, or breast cancer, etc. The thought here is that if patients have the power to look into the future through things found in their genome -- what treatment / healthcare related actions might they take? For instance, if I knew that I'd get pancreatic cancer someday -- I would be lining up to have my pancreas removed (since it doesn't work anyway!).

This should be an interesting study. My role is to make sure that all of the data gets collected, managed, and analyzed appropriately. $10 million of your tax dollars... I'll do my best! : )