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Hello.
My name is Professor Joe Duffy.
I work at St. Vincent's
University Hospital
and University College, Dublin.
The title of my presentation is
the Role of Molecular Markers
in Guiding Therapy in Cancer.
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List some of the
questions that emerge
following a diagnosis of cancer.
The first question is who to treat?
In other words, which
patients, following
surgical removal of a
primary tumor, should receive
additional or adjuvant treatment?
If the decision is to treat,
the next question is how to treat?
In other words, what is the
most appropriate treatment
for a given patient?
Of a major concern to the
patient, is will the treatment
caused major toxicity?
And a fourth issue
is how to determine
if treatment is effective?
In other words, how to know
if the treatment is working?
The aim of this
lecture is to discuss
how molecular markers can help
address these four questions,
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starting with who to treat.
Patients with aggressive
or life-threatening tumors
generally receive
adjuvant treatment.
On the other hand, patients
with indolent tumors
may be able to avoid having
to receive adjuvant treatment
and thus be spared from the
toxicity and costs of these drugs.
The distinction between
aggressive and indolent tumors
is aided by prognostic
markers or prognostic factors.
