What Is Precision Medicine in Oncology?
August 12, 2019
Precision medicine is revolutionizing the standard of care in oncology. Cancer care has traditionally been targeted to average populations, consisting of treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery based on a limited set of factors. Precision medicine, however, is guided by the individual—specifically their unique genetic profile.
Benefits of Precision Medicine
Shifting to a more personalized approach to cancer care has required researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the genetic mutations that contribute to the development and progression of specific cancers. Research into precision cancer care has uncovered countless biomarkers and additional risk factors, allowing the medical community to more faithfully identify patients that are most likely to benefit from a particular therapy.
Perhaps most importantly, by targeting treatments to the specific genetic mutations that are driving a patient’s cancer, precision medicine is providing better outcomes with less trial and error while reducing adverse reactions to treatments. In fact, while still in its infancy, precision medicine has given rise to many more targeted and effective treatments, including an array of immunotherapies that enable patients’ own immune systems to fight their cancers.
Advancing Precision Medicine
Precision medicine is not yet the standard of care for many types of cancer. However, it is heavily influencing the way cancers are researched and treatments are developed, providing greater hope for patients as we head deeper into the 21st century. To achieve this, new technologies and techniques, such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) have been developed to allow for more efficient, cost-effective analysis of individual genetic profiles and cancer risk factors. As more actionable cancer biomarkers are discovered, drug development will continue to become more targeted and, therefore, more effective.
At M2GEN, we are helping to lead the charge in advancing precision cancer medicine in oncology by providing researchers with unprecedented access to robust, real-world genomic and clinical data paired with the custom bioinformatics tools they need for efficient and detailed analysis. To learn more about our contributions, contact us today.