Dr. Xuan Ni Tan Researching the Benefits
Former BCRWA research fellow Dr. Xuan Ni Tan is one of five cancer researchers awarded a State Government fellowship in the latest round of the WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network Fellowship program. As featured in the Post Newspaper, this fellowship will enable her to determine if the benefits of more targeted treatments can justify the costs of using advance gene-sequencing technology to screen patients before commencing treatment. Dr Tan’s study focuses on Acute Myeloid Leukeumia and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia because of their prevalence among adults and the ability of advanced sequencing to detect mutations in these cancers that would change treatment selection. Genetic testing currently offered for these patients require a bone marrow transplant for best survival however approximately 25% of high-risk patients are missed causing not only delays in accessing alternative treatments but also exposure to potentially harmful therapy. The Department of Health’s Assistant Director General (Clinical Excellence) Dr. James Williamson said Dr. Tan’s research highlighted the opportunities arising from advances in human genomics that were enabling doctors to provide treatments tailored to patients’ individual genetics and the genetics of their cancer.
Full media release from WA Health: https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Media-releases/2020/Researcher-to-test-value-of-tailored-gene-testing