Summit Speaker Series: Darren Wheeler, MD

The 2016 Nevada Cancer Control Summit brings together expert speakers from throughout the region to discuss the latest topics in cancer control. This is the last of our Summit Speaker Series leading up to the Summit on September 15 at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas.

As precision medicine takes hold and becomes part of the national spotlight with initiatives such as Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot it’s more important than ever to stay abreast of the latest science behind cancer diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Darren Wheeler, West Regional Medical Director of Anatomic Pathology for Quest/Ameripath, presents Advanced Molecular Analysis of Tumors: Biomarkers and Gene Signatures that Drive Therapy Selection bringing the latest in precision medicine to this year’s Summit.

In his session, Dr. Wheeler will describe how companion and complementary diagnostic tests drive therapy selection, discuss genomic assays currently on the market and their ability to determine prognosis and/or prediction of chemotherapy in many solid tumors, and discuss how expanded gene panel testing can not only help determine cancer risk but also identify targeted therapies for patients whose initial treatment has failed. Dr. Wheeler will also explore how the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and its associated biomarker testing has shown promising clinical success in identifying those cancers which may respond favorable to immunotherapy.

Dr. Wheeler received his medical degree and completed his residency in Anatomic Pathology at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed a fellowship in Gynecologic Pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.  Before joining Quest Diagnostics in Las Vegas, he was a staff consultant for the Gynecologic and Breast Pathology Department at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, D.C.  He has since served on the editorial board of the Advances in Anatomic Pathology Journal, the Executive Committee of the International Society of Gynecological Pathologists, and currently sits on multiple speaker bureaus for a variety of advanced laboratory testing topics including cervical cancer screening, cancer genomics in solid tumors, and genetic testing.  He has continued to perform subspecialty pathology consultation for Quest Diagnostics for the past 12 years and most recently has assumed the role of West Regional Medical Director of Anatomic Pathology for Quest/Ameripath.

Join us for this presentation and more at the 2016 Nevada Cancer Control Summit. Registration is $120 and includes CE, handouts, lunch, and networking opportunities. Review the entire agenda and register online here.