Attending Physician and Medical Director, Pediatric Brain Tumor Program, Seattle Children’s
Molecular data is helping bridge the gap between diagnosis and personalized childhood cancer treatment, making a difference for Dr. Sarah Leary’s patients. Sarah, attending physician and medical director of Seattle Children’s Pediatric Brain Tumor Program, recalls one patient who had emergency surgery while on vacation on the other side of the country. This patient participated in the CCDI Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI) “and by the time she came home to Seattle, we already had the molecular diagnosis we needed to understand her diagnosis and start personalized treatment,” said Sarah.
Brain tumors can be very complex. An exciting aspect of MCI data is that it empowers oncologists to distinguish between seemingly similar tumors that may require vastly different treatments. “We now have more data being generated by MCI every 1-2 years than we used to get from trials that lasted 10 years, so we can learn so much more quickly now.” Equally important is meaningfully sharing these data, which requires collaboration across disciplines and merging cancer biology with cutting-edge bioinformatics and data security to ensure patient privacy.
Furthermore, applying new tools and technology to retrieving and analyzing molecular and clinical data obtained through MCI could lead to a better understanding of childhood cancers and ensure that “kids can benefit from information about patients like them who were recently treated." CCDI is providing the framework and resources to accomplish this. “Through CCDI, we have the opportunity to advance clinical cancer research and care in ways I couldn’t have imagined possible 10 years ago.”