Refresh your knowledge with this precision oncology clinical topic update from pathologist Prof. Fernando López-Ríos.

Prof. López-Ríos gives an overview of gene fusions in solid tumours, methods for identification and the different tumour types harbouring gene fusions. He highlights the need to search for actionable fusions and the implications for treatment.

Clinical takeaways

  • Several fusions are now actionable in solid tumours
  • Most of them were initially studied in NSCLC (ALK, ROS1 and RET), but many are now being developed in a tumour-agnostic manner (NTRK, RET, FGFR)
  • The gold standard for detecting fusions is RNA-based NGS, but IHC, FISH and real-time PCR can also be used

Educational objectives

  • Understand what a gene fusion is and the different types of genetic variations used in precision oncology

  • Know why gene fusions are oncogenic and how to identify them

  • Have an awareness of the different types of gene fusions, their distribution across tumour types and key data related to associated treatments

Fernando Lopez-Rios is the Chief of the Molecular Diagnostics Service at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre (Madrid) and Professor of Pathology at Universidad Complutense (Madrid).

 

Dr Lopez-Rios has also been the Director of the Therapeutic Targets Laboratory at HM Hospitales (Spain) and a visiting researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York).

 

He is the 2023 recipient of the Mary J. Matthews Pathology & Transitional Research Award (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, IASLC) and the Deputy Chair of the IASLC Pathology Committee.

 

His main clinical and research expertise is in cancer biomarker testing.

Prof. Fernando López-Ríos has received financial support/sponsorship for research support, consultation, or speaker fees from the following companies:

Honoraria:  AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi Sankyo, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, and Thermo Fisher. 

Research support: AstraZeneca, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, and Thermo Fisher.   

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This educational programme is supported by an Independent Educational Grant from Bayer.
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This educational programme is supported by an Independent Educational Grant from Bayer.
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PRECISION ONCOLOGY CONNECT is an initiative of COR2ED, supported by Independent Educational Grants from AstraZeneca, Amoy Diagnostics, Bayer, Pierre Fabre Laboratories, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Daiichi Sankyo.

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