Quintiles Launches its Perspectives on Oncology, a Web-Based, Multi-Media Resource

Following the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting last week in Chicago, Quintiles has launched its Perspectives on Oncology, a web-based, multi-media resource. It is a forum where oncology experts from Quintiles and beyond share their insights and vision on the future of oncology. Perspectives on Oncology is an ideal resource for journalists to access podcasts and video interviews with those leaders who are at the front in the fight against cancer. The site also houses bylined articles and white papers by these experts on approaches to oncology drug development.

Two papers released last week by Quintiles are featured on the site. The papers outline the experts perspectives on two areas of focus for clinical oncologists - - the impact of patient selections in early-phase studies and the use of biomarkers in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. The first report, Tomorrow’s Path to Improved Early Phase Oncology Drug Development explores the importance of key elements to maximize quality and efficiency of go/no-go decisions in early-phase studies. According to the authors, for researchers to gain a better understanding of drugs during the preclinical phase, focus should be on a clear understanding of the relevance of the target in the cancer phenotype or in resistance to current standard of care.

The second report, Biomarkers: Recent Advances in their Application to the Treatment of Hematologic Malignancies, presents a point of view on the value of biomarkers in the early detection and stratification of groups at risk for aggressive disease to improve the overall survival rates associated with late stage diagnosis.