Obtaining adequate tumour tissue for molecular analysis is often challenging due to the invasive nature of tissue biopsy. Furthermore, capturing the genomic heterogeneity of the disease and longitudinal monitoring of genetic alterations to understand mechanisms of resistance to therapy is often not feasible with repeated tissue biopsies. More recently, the ability to detect and characterise circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in the plasma has enabled a wide array of clinical applications in oncology.
Dr Lavinia Tan will be presenting on investigating the clinical utility of ctDNA in patients with early-stage melanoma, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) undergoing therapy.
After obtaining her undergraduate medical degree from the University of Melbourne, she completed her specialist training in medical oncology and a clinical fellowship focusing on lung cancer through the Royal Australian College of Physicians. As a PhD candidate in the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory, she is exploring the utility of circulating tumour DNA to guide precision medicine in solid malignancies. She currently practices as a Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in the lung cancer service with a focus on clinical and translational research.
Content warning: The VCCC Alliance Precision Oncology Forum is aimed primarily at a clinical audience and features open discussion about real cases and patients. While these cases are de-identified, the imagery, content and discussion can be graphic.
