Speaker: Dr Poon Song Ling, Ph.D., Medical Scientific Liaison, ACT Genomics, Singapore

Precision medicine has been defined as identifying the right drug, for the right patient, at the right dose, at the right time. This concept requires heavy access to information on an individual’s unique genetic characteristics to tailor therapy. Next generation sequencing (NGS) allows multiple genes to be analyzed simultaneously in one run and can provide enough depth of coverage to detect minor allele frequencies in a cost-effective manner. Together with the advancement of computational tools created, NGS has risen to the forefront in tumor analysis, provide opportunity in dissecting and integrating the highly complex and heterogeneous genetic composition of cancer. In addition, increasing evidence has showed the importance of combining pharmacology (the science of drugs) and genomics (the study of genes and their functions) to develop effective, safe medications and doses that will be tailored to a person’s genetic makeup.

In this seminar, we will evaluate various approaches used in genomic profiling and how recent advancements in the field are changing the way of decoding genome. Details of each approach along with its benefits and drawbacks shall be discussed. Finally, as a proof of concept, we will share with you a few clinical cases to further elucidate the emerging applications of NGS and its impact for medical oncology.