Today I will be presenting the pro or the yes position for next generation gene sequencing testing in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Cancer is a disease of genomic abnormalities and progress has been made over the last several years stating that the more we understand about the biology of cancer, the better we are with selecting therapy. So I think that we need to take advantage of the technology, take advantage of better agents targeting abnormalities in the tumour and offer that possibility to patients.

What are the arguments against NGS?

Some people may not be as convinced as I am that we need to move on and identify abnormalities in the tumours to make better selection for patients. It may be because they have not been exposed to the technology, they have not utilised the testing for patients or they may have low availability of therapeutic agents to utilise. However, things are really changing and they’re changing for the better.

What beneficial developments do you see in NGS in the near future?

One of the things that is happening related to databases, genomic testing, multi-gene profiles is that there are many different tests available; some of them provide ten genes, others provide fifty genes, others provide 320 genes. But there is even more than that – some of the tests evaluate amplifications of the genes in addition to mutations; gene copy alterations that are really important; tumour mutational burden; microsatellite instability. So there are so many tests that we need to aggregate the data. You may wonder when is this going to happen, well it is happening right now. There are many people who are interested in collaboration and the more we collaborate, the more we perform adequate testing the better it will be for our patients.

I think there’s going to be an increased use of next generation gene sequencing. Many reasons for that – physicians and patients are understanding that this is going to be the best way to treat cancer. The cost of testing will continue to decrease because of the proliferation of different tests and medicines will be developed that will better target abnormalities of the cancer. So, to me, it’s a no-brainer.

Anything to add?

Progress is being made all over the world and I’m very happy to be here in Egypt sharing new information with colleagues from this region and other parts of the world.