“Genetic testing, as it's called in the clinic, is really looking at germline alterations in DNA. And what does that mean? Germline refers to the origin of the DNA being from germ cells. You get egg from mom, sperm from dad. Those are germ cell lineages. And so when we talk about genetic testing or germline mutation testing, we're really looking at what is an inherited gene alteration, a mutation for example, that you got from your parents and it's in all of your DNA, in all of your cells, in your entire body. It's not just in your tumor. When we talk about somatic mutation testing, we're looking at something that is in the tumor and not necessarily in your germline. It's not in the germline actually. So when you have tumor biomarker testing, you're looking at somatic mutations mostly, but some of those somatic mutations could actually be germline mutations. So you may have inherited them.”

“I say lung cancer is currently the king of biomarkers. There are more validated biomarkers in lung cancer right now than any other solid tumor type. I think breast maybe comes in second, but right now there are 12 different biomarkers per NCCN guidelines that should be, that every patient with non-small cell lung cancer, particularly adenocarcinoma, should be tested for. And yet we know that 100 % of them are not being tested for that, but that's another story.”

“ I think the first thing is just to be aware of [biomarker testing] as critical, and it's a part of your care that can't be skipped. The first question I always ask a patient is, have you had biomarker testing? And oftentimes the answer is, I don't know, or they don't know how to find it. And part of the problem is it's not often uploaded into your MyChart or your patient portal.So that's the first thing I coach them is, it's something you have to ask for.”