The current standard of care for identifying targetable mutations in cancer treatment is to conduct molecular profiles on tumor tissue samples, but a study published Monday in JAMA Network Open authored by Wade Iams, MD, and colleagues indicates that adding liquid biopsy testing for circulating tumor DNA mutations increases targetable mutation detection rates.

When the Vanderbilt Amyloid Multidisciplinary Program (VAMP) launched in 2011, it was the first center in Tennessee dedicated to patients with amyloidosis – a rare, systemic disorder that encompasses myriad presentations and organ dysfunctions. Since then, VAMP has paved the way to coordinated care as a major referral center in the southeastern United States, growing to include over a dozen collaborating specialists working to provide structured, multidisciplinary care to adults navigating an amyloidosis diagnosis.

Kristen Ciombor, M.D., reflects on recent wins and opportunities ahead in the precision targeting of colorectal cancer.

Three-dimensional scanning and printing systems are now utilized for purposes ranging from same-day dental crowns to prosthetic limbs, so Michael Topf, MD, wondered why computer-aided design (CAD) technology hadn’t made it into operating rooms as a visual aid for real-time consultations.  Surgeons communicate via phone and are dependent upon verbal descriptions from pathologists for guidance […]

Vanderbilt researchers found that T cells become exhausted within hours of encountering a tumor, challenging existing ideas about how T cells become dysfunctional.