A Mosaic of Uncertainty

Targeted therapies are only as good as the tests that determine whether they are warranted, says this article in the New York Times. In it, Linda Griffith, the head of MIT's Center for Gynepathology Research, says that she has seen this both as a researcher and as a patient. Her Her2 test on a breast biopsy came back as a mosaic and whether or not she should take Herceptin was unclear. In addition, a Mayo clinic study a few years ago found that labs often disagreed on the test results, and that led to the adoption of Her2 testing guidelines, though there can still be incongruities about results. Genentech's Krysta Pellegrino tells the Times that "we're still trying to refine the testing."