Dana-Farber Cancer Institute adult leukemia specialist Dr. David Steensma welcomed the new data, but also provided a bit of a reality check on how far the knowledge is from changing patient care, in an essay published in the New England Journal of Medicine called “The Beginning of the End of the Beginning in Cancer Genomics.” 
 
 Steensma argues that data-rich genome studies of cancer are a crucial step, providing information that will guide drug developers and the design of clinical trials. Genomic data have been churned out in the past few years for five other cancers, and more are expected over the next year. The two studies of samples taken from hundreds of patients suggest new possible drug targets and ways to divide cancers into subtypes that might respond differently to treatment. “We finally know what the major pathways are and what all the major mutations look like.” And knowing which genes are mutated also allows researchers to investigate drugs that target those genes. “If you classify them [the tumors] based on these new criteria, you might be able to have better therapeutic approaches,” Kucherlapati said.
– Two major studies of common cancers have zeroed in on the particular gene mutations associated with both, a breakthrough that could lead to better treatment for those with acute myeloid leukemia and endometrial cancer, reports the Boston Globe. But the studies also lend credence to a broader idea: that our traditional way of defining cancer by the organ in which it originates is outdated, reports the New York Times. Instead, it might be time to start thinking of cancer in terms of genetic mutations. In the latest studies, for example, researchers were surprised to discover that the worst endometrial tumors of the uterine were remarkably similar to the worst forms of breast and ovarian cancer. That raises "the tantalizing possibility that the three deadly cancers might respond to the same drugs," writes the Times' Gina Kolata. This emerging approach is called "precision medicine," notes the Wall Street Journal. The theory has been around for a while, but the new research under the sprawling Cancer Genome Atlas project seems to validate it. "It is very rewarding—I can't overstate it," says one expert not affiliated with the work.