DNA of cancer patients who exceptionally respond to drugs to become avenue for new treatments

The history of oncology is rife with reports of patients with advanced cancer who staged miraculous recoveries.

Now scientists are starting to use sophisticated DNA sequencing technology to determine if these “exceptional responders” carry gene variations that can lead to new treatment approaches, better targeted therapies or even the re- emergence of experimental drugs once deemed failures.

The mystery surrounding Jan Crisitello, a 70-year-old grandmother of four, is a case in point. Five years ago, 29 patients with advanced melanoma enrolled in a trial of a drug under development by Pfizer. Only one, Crisitello, came away with her cancer in remission. Now, she is being studied to see how her unique genome may have interacted with the drug to spur her recovery.

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“What was yesterday’s miracle event is today becoming a subject of scientific inquiry,” said Leonard Lichtenfeld, an oncologist for 42 years who is deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

Read the full, original story: Cancer’s miracle patients studied anew for disease clues