The University of Vermont Medical Center has finally opened its genomic medicine laboratory. This new state-of-the-art room will allow for more testing. Genomic testing is a fairly new technique that focuses on targeting treatments for cancer patients. “A genome of a patient, of an individual, includes fundamental information that, right now, we are not really using,” UVM Medical Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Debra Leonard said. The results of the tests on patients will help rule out the use of any medical treatment, such as chemotherapy, that may not be necessary. “We have identified 29 genes that are important to cause cancer and for which there are therapies that could be used if we know that a specific gene is driving the cancer. Then there is a targeted therapy that can be used,” Leonard said. UVM’s new lab expands the range of patients that can benefit from this test. “Just two weeks ago, the oncologist agreed that we would move toward automatically testing all colon cancer, lung cancers and melanomas, that can’t be treated by just cutting them out,” Leonard said. Helping cancer patients is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the opportunities the lab could provide. “Part of the vision was to have a clinical laboratory that was state of the art, which would support the full growth of the genomic program starting with sequencing cancers and ending up the genomes of most every patient that ends up coming to the University of Vermont Medical Center,” Leonard said. Eventually, this information could help patients focus on prevention methods instead of treatment methods.