At ASCO 2025, UCI Health Chao Family Cancer Center Director Richard Van Etten, MD, PhD, shares his reflections on one of the meeting’s key themes: the expanding landscape of precision oncology. In this update, Van Etten discusses how modern cancer care is moving beyond just tumor mutations to include epigenetic changes, gene expression profiles (transcriptomics), and protein-level data (proteomics). These complementary layers of information are essential to gaining a fuller understanding of tumor biology and selecting the most effective, individualized treatments.

He also highlights the practical challenge of translating these data-rich insights into everyday clinical use. While much of this information already exists in the electronic medical record, oncologists still lack robust tools to query and interpret it. Van Etten emphasizes the UCI Health commitment to incorporating new solutions into its own practice, reinforcing the center’s role as a leader in advancing precision oncology for patients across Orange County and beyond.