Work

Beyond nosology? Molecular tumor boards, singularization, and the conflation of diagnosis and therapy

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: This article partakes in a number of recent attempts to map the reconfiguration of clinical work as part of the deployment of precision oncology. We focus on the platforms, in particular Molecular Tumor Boards, that act as a condition of possibility for implementing innovative experimental interventions, and which are part of the emergence, beyond the traditional confines of diagnosis, of a data “ecosystem” geared towards increasing patient access to drugs matched to their genomic profile. MTBs are a key component of this singularization process, and their activities are central to the looping mechanisms that connect the diagnosis of individual patients to the revision of diagnostic categories. These categories are no longer “merely” diagnostic but operate as predictive guides to therapy.

Source: New Genetics and Society

DOI: 10.1080/14636778.2020.1853512

Authors: Alberto Cambrosio, Jonah Campbell, Pascale Bourret

Institutions: McGill University, Inserm, Aix-Marseille Université, Economic & Social Sciences, Health Systems & Medical Informatics, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

Language: English

Topic: Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics

Subfield: Cancer Research

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Institut National Du Cancer, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Cancer Institute