tumor characteristics vary widely from primary to metastasis and between metastatic sites in the body,” Jody E. Hooper, MD, director of the Legacy Gift Rapid Autopsy program at Johns Hopkins University and deputy director of the autopsy service. Researchers collected tissue from 14 different metastatic sites within the patient. When compared with the pretreated tumor, sequencing showed all lesions had a copy loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog. As a result, the lesions became refractory to the treatment and developed different genetic alterations.The fact that researchers can now study what happens to cancer after drug resistance develops and tumor heterogeneity is a huge step forward, according to Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PHD of OSUMC.