From Paul Bunn and colleagues: The evolution of tumor classification: a role for genomics?

Cancer Cell. 2013 Dec 9;24(6):693-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2013.11.019.

The evolution of tumor classification: a role for genomics?

Bunn PA Jr1, Franklin W2, Doebele RC3.

Author information

• 1Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. Electronic address: paul.bunn@ucdenver.edu.
• 2Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
• 3Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.

Abstract

Lung cancers are divided into four types according to their histologic appearance. Therapeutic decisions are partly based on histology. A recent study indicates that certain molecular alterations associate with histology and that therapies directed to these molecular changes improve outcome, indicating that genomic information should be incorporated into future tumor classification.