YOUNG JUN KIM, MD, PhD, Co-Leader of the Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Research Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, in Nashville, called the research “very important work.” 

“This is very close to clinical relevance because no special test is required right now,” said Dr. Kim. “We just need to sequence, which can be done pretty rapidly these days, and if you can do the analysis, which is probably rapid as well, you can quickly stratify patients with high– or low–mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity. I don’t see a big barrier in the development of this assay.” 

“The next step is a prospective, randomized clinical trial that can corroborate this retrospective finding,” Dr. Kim added. “If that happens, then clinicians will pay attention and actually utilize this measure in their practice.” ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Kim reported no conflicts of interest.