When cancer patients should ask for genetic sequencing

Cancer DNA can provide important clues about the best way to treat the disease, finds a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Doctors can genetically profile tumors by sequencing the DNA from a person’s cancer cells, revealing which mutations are responsible for causing the cancer. By comparing the tumor’s DNA to DNA from the same person’s healthy cells, the scientists can pinpoint which genetic changes were unique to the cancer cells.