Steve Jobs' Cancer Journey

All patients face difficult choices when they hear the words "You have cancer." Steve Jobs, who died Oct. 5, was no different, though he tried one thing most people don't--having his entire genome and that of his cancer decoded. This can expose the tumor's genetic mutations and help doctors choose anticancer drugs. Yet while this approach already guides the treatment of some cancers, pancreatic cancer isn't among them.

That doesn't mean scientists aren't on the case. Already they are beginning to compile a list of the mutations that commonly occur in pancreatic tumors, hoping to learn how each of these aberrations...