Genomics and the Continuum of Cancer Care

Microarray analysis, involving assay of the expression of thousands of genes, and systematic DNA sequencing have led to tools and medicines now used in the treatment of cancer. This article reviews recent progress in the genomic analysis of cancer. The provision of the human genome sequence in 2000 1 set in motion several waves of cancer research. The identification of an essentially complete set of protein-coding genes, coupled with the discovery of novel transcribed elements such as microRNAs (see the Glossary), has fostered an explosion of investigation using array-based approaches into patterns of gene expression in most cancer types. Similarly, the development of systematic approaches to identify somatic mutations has prompted exhaustive analyses of changes in cancer genomes, including copy-number changes (deletions and amplifications of DNA), rearrangements, small insertions and deletions, and point mutations. 2 Recently, these efforts have culminated in . . .