tumors evading treatment

http://cenblog.org/the-haystack/2012/06/asco12-data-digest-overcoming-resistance-in-metastatic-melanoma/

Very good blog talking about the same story:Not long ago, metastatic melanoma was considered a graveyard for clinical research. But last year brought a major breakthrough in treating skin cancer: the approval of Roche's Zelboraf (vemurafenib), a small molecule that has proven highly effective at treating the roughly 50% of the patient population that carry the BRAFV600E mutation.

However, Zelboraf has limitations. Patients' disease eventually becomes resistant to the drug and the lesions caused by the skin cancer tend to return after 6 to 9 months.

In the backstory, it's the full genome sequencing that has become cheaper to $4000 that will help development of both targetted drugs like anti-BRAF and understanding drug resistance further.   I think the Broad institute is a customer of Complete Genomics.   I have no financial interest btw.   

More quotes:

An amazing thing about current melanoma research is that several physician-scientists involved in the clinical trials are also actively involved in translational research-this is sadly the exception rather than the rule, in oncology. But the connection between basic science and bedside has meant new targets are being identified and quickly tested in the clinic.