New cancer classification system might boost patient outcomes

Researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Francisco have unveiled a new genomic study analyzing more than 3,500 tumour samples of 12 different types of cancer. According to the study findings, changes in the classification of cancers may lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatments in approximately 10% of cancer patients. According to study co-senior author Dr. Christopher Benz, the most significant findings occurred in bladder and breast cancers, which may explain why "bladder cancer patients "often respond very differently when treated with the same systemic therapy for their seemingly identical cancer type". To read more about this study, part of the Cancer Genome Atlas Initiative, click here.