Gary Palmer: Cancer is basically a disease of the genome. We know that most cancers are caused by changes at the DNA level, whether it’s caused by radiation, cigarette smoking, or unknown factors. DNA changes are really what drive cancer. At Foundation Medicine, we have, I think, the best test to determine those relevant DNA changes that can lead directly to therapies for the patients. We can find all classes of alterations, mutations, copy number alterations, and amplifications in one test with very small amounts of tissue. By doing our test, the oncologist and the patient will be able to find any and all treatable alterations in the DNA that are relevant to their tumor.
