Role of Genomics in Prostate Cancer

Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, associate clinical professor at the University of Connecticut, explains the role of genomics in prostate cancer.

Lisa Holle, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA: So currently, the role in genomics is still evolving. So we do know there are genetic aberration that can occur in patients with prostate cancer. I think it’s about 10-20% of patients with metastatic prostate cancer could have a genomic aberration, but how we go about treating those patients and targeting those genetic mutations or aberrations is still evolving. So it’s important that prostate cancer patients that have metastatic disease are tested for these things because it could lead to targeted therapy for that mutation. It could allow them to be involved in a clinical trial so that we can learn more about the appropriate treatments for these patients. Or in some cases we do have some drugs, such as pembrolizumab, so if a patient has microsatellite high instability then they can go on to receive pembrolizumab after they’ve failed other therapies.