Existing and Emerging Technologies for Tumor Genomic Profiling

Ongoing global genome characterization efforts are revolutionizing our knowledge of cancer genomics and tumor biology. In parallel, information gleaned from these studies on driver cancer gene alterations-mutations, copy number alterations, translocations, and/or chromosomal rearrangements-can be leveraged, in principle, to develop a cohesive framework for individualized cancer treatment. These possibilities have been enabled, to a large degree, by revolutionary advances in genomic technologies that facilitate systematic profiling for hallmark cancer genetic alterations at increasingly fine resolutions. Ongoing innovations in existing genomics technologies, as well as the many emerging technologies, will likely continue to advance translational cancer genomics and precision cancer medicine.