Cancer genomics: Promises and complexities

The impending final deciphering of the complete human genome, coupled with the advancement of high-throughput technologies, is positioned to bring abo ut a fundamental transformation in cancer research. The era of molecular bi ology is transforming into the era of genomic biology, with an unprecedente d promise of understanding multifactorial diseases and of identifying speci fic targets that can be used to develop patient-tailored therapies. Althoug h the genomic approach is in an early phase of its development and its tool s need to be honed, the application of genomic technologies to cancer resea rch has already generated exciting results both in target identification an d in disease classification. In this article, we review some of the develop ments pertinent to cancer research, discuss potentially problematic areas a ssociated with them, and comment on future trends and issues.