Today's announcement regarding the sequencing of whole prostate cancer genomes is an historic development in the fight against prostate cancer. The ability to sequence whole genomes will spare some patients from unnecessary treatments and side effects while eliminating an estimated $1.5 billion that is spent each year on overtreatment. The complete research findings will be published in the February 10 issue of Nature.
“This study is an example of a collaboration between basic scientists and research scientists who are urologists and who approach patients and collectively gather specimens for further transitional research”
Work conducted by lead institutions, the Broad Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Weill Cornell Medical College, along with 15 other collaborating institutions, completed this initial project ahead of a planned NIH effort. The current estimated cost of sequencing a whole genome is $25,000 or less. Experts predict that the cost of routine sequencing will ultimately be around $5,000 per genome. This figure compares favorably to the cost of $90,000-150,000 per patient for a radical prostatectomy followed by several years of androgen deprivation therapy using Lupron.
The data expands our fundamental understanding of the disease's biology and provides the technical and clinical roadmap for improving patient treatment and outcomes.
"This study is an example of a collaboration between basic scientists and research scientists who are urologists and who approach patients and collectively gather specimens for further transitional research," said Dr. Ash Tewari, director of the LeFrak Center for Robotic Surgery and Institute of Prostate Cancer at Weill Cornell Medical College.
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