A $74 Billion Bet on the Future of Cancer Treatmen...
A $74 Billion Bet on the Future of Cancer Treatment — What Does it Mean For You?
Published Jan 3, 2019
There’s a piece of news about an acquisition today which will likely have a significant influence on the future of cancer research. For anyone who has cancer, or has had a family member with the disease, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s announcement that it is acquiring cancer drugmaker Celgene for $74 billion is significant.
Not long ago, SurvivorNet sat down with the Chief Scientific Officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Tom Lynch. Dr. Lynch spent many years as a noted lung cancer specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. He says it’s important to be realistic about the extraordinary new advances in cancer research. But he used a fairly remarkable analogy. “What I think is fair to say is, my daughter is a second-year medical student, I would hope that the amount of progress that she sees in her career is greater than the amount of progress that I’ve seen in my career,” he told SurvivorNet.
When discussing what has enabled the progress in cancer research — Dr. Lynch said gene sequencing has played a big role. “The human genome project has paid off unbelievably well,” he told SurvivorNet. “We can now sequence cancers from patients, from blood samples, from tumors to be able to understand what’s driving cancer and what’s driving response.”
Dr. Lynch says he strongly believes that molecular profiling and biomarkers are the key to developing new treatments — for both early- and late-stage cancers.
When it comes to treating cancers when they are still early-stage, Dr. Lynch says things like liquid biopsies may be able to help doctors understand screening better, and with that — come up with better treatments for early-stage cancers. “What I think is going to happen in cancer treatment is the movement of therapies from late-stage disease to earlier-stage disease,” Dr. Lynch says. “It’s very difficult to know how close we are to really understanding how these trends are going to evolve.”
Dr. Lynch acknowledges that people are looking for hope — but he also pointed out that when a new discovery in cancer research comes along, it does take time before medical professionals know how significant it is. He used the HPV vaccine as an example; just a few years ago a vaccine was developed that could reduce people’s chances of getting cancer — particularly cervical cancer in women. “When that was discovered and advanced, it didn’t get any fanfare,” Dr. Lynch said. “And that was a major advance in how cancer can be prevented.”
When it comes to cancer research, Dr. Lynch says it’s important to find a balance between hope and reality — doctors and researchers have made incredible progress in screening for and treating many cancers, but there’s still a long way to go.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
There’s a piece of news about an acquisition today which will likely have a significant influence on the future of cancer research. For anyone who has cancer, or has had a family member with the disease, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s announcement that it is acquiring cancer drugmaker Celgene for $74 billion is significant.
Not long ago, SurvivorNet sat down with the Chief Scientific Officer at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Tom Lynch. Dr. Lynch spent many years as a noted lung cancer specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale Cancer Center. He says it’s important to be realistic about the extraordinary new advances in cancer research. But he used a fairly remarkable analogy. “What I think is fair to say is, my daughter is a second-year medical student, I would hope that the amount of progress that she sees in her career is greater than the amount of progress that I’ve seen in my career,” he told SurvivorNet.
When discussing what has enabled the progress in cancer research — Dr. Lynch said gene sequencing has played a big role. “The human genome project has paid off unbelievably well,” he told SurvivorNet. “We can now sequence cancers from patients, from blood samples, from tumors to be able to understand what’s driving cancer and what’s driving response.”
Dr. Lynch says he strongly believes that molecular profiling and biomarkers are the key to developing new treatments — for both early- and late-stage cancers.
When it comes to treating cancers when they are still early-stage, Dr. Lynch says things like liquid biopsies may be able to help doctors understand screening better, and with that — come up with better treatments for early-stage cancers. “What I think is going to happen in cancer treatment is the movement of therapies from late-stage disease to earlier-stage disease,” Dr. Lynch says. “It’s very difficult to know how close we are to really understanding how these trends are going to evolve.”
Dr. Lynch acknowledges that people are looking for hope — but he also pointed out that when a new discovery in cancer research comes along, it does take time before medical professionals know how significant it is. He used the HPV vaccine as an example; just a few years ago a vaccine was developed that could reduce people’s chances of getting cancer — particularly cervical cancer in women. “When that was discovered and advanced, it didn’t get any fanfare,” Dr. Lynch said. “And that was a major advance in how cancer can be prevented.”
When it comes to cancer research, Dr. Lynch says it’s important to find a balance between hope and reality — doctors and researchers have made incredible progress in screening for and treating many cancers, but there’s still a long way to go.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.