Genomic Testing and Precision Medicine – an Evolution in Cancer Care
When the human genome was mapped (1990 – 2003) it accelerated the study of human biology and improved medical practice, including the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of blood cancer.
Today at the Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Genomics, researchers identify the genetic mutations causing a patient’s cancer, whether it will act aggressively and which treatments the cancer will respond to, avoiding unnecessary and ineffective treatments.
Genomic testing is at the core of evolutionary advances in cancer care and is fuelling new research, clinical trials and development of medications.
The Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Research
The Wilson Centre, at Victoria’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, is one of the few centres world-wide providing genomic sequencing and testing. It has delivered over 5,000 fully subsidised genomic tests for Australians with blood cancer since opening in 2017.
The Centre also undertakes cutting edge research into blood cancer treatment resistance, personalised medicine and genomic sequencing of blood cancers, led by globally respected researchers.
Thank you to the Wilson family for generously funding this centre. The Snowdome Foundation is proud to support the Wilson Centre and its researchers who continue to unlock the genetic causes of cancer and enable the delivery of personalised cancer care.
Biography
A/Prof Piers Blombery is a clinical and laboratory haematologist and the medical lead of the Molecular Haematology Laboratory at the Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Genomics, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria.
After beginning his haematology training in Melbourne at St Vincent’s Hospital, he completed his training and worked as a consultant at University College London Hospital (UCLH) in the leukaemia/MDS service and the Specialised Integrated Haematological Malignancy Diagnostic Service.
Along with a highly dedicated scientific team, he coordinates the provision of personalised therapy for patients with haematological malignancy at Peter MacCallum through comprehensive and tailored genomic assessment of blood cancer in the diagnostic laboratory. This work was pioneered in multiple myeloma and now extends to all types of haematological malignancy including chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, indolent lymphoma, aggressive lymphoma and the full spectrum of myeloid malignancies.
Clinically he works in the aggressive lymphoma service and provides a consultative service in personalised molecular medicine