Cancer treatment has reached a stage where we have begun to realize that same hat can not fit everybody's head. Genetic mismatches at the nucleic-acid level, known as point mutations vary from person to person, calling for the need of 'personalized-medicine' concept.
In a work to be presented today scientists use a technology that can identify genetic make up of a person's cancer cells, by determining point mutations in 100 known oncogenes. This will give a 'genetic footprint' of that particular population of cancer cells. Having this footprint will increase the chances of finding the right therapy by multi-fold because many of the rationally designed  anti-cancer drugs target a specific mutation of an oncogene. This presents us with an opportunity to effectively treat each person with a specific genetic mark-up with a highly specialized combination of anti-cancer drugs increasing the chances of survival.
Having said that, there are more mutations and oncogenes being discovered as you read this blog. From identifying a mutation to discovering a drug and bringing it to clinic takes about 15-20 years!
So this study gives us a hope that when we discover all the oncogenes and their mutuations in patients AND when we find drugs that target each one of these mutations, we might be able to treat cancer with a higher accuracy and increase the survival of patients significantly.
Bottom line is, that this ideal situation may be nearer than earlier thought...

Personalized medicine image from here