Precision Medicine
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Precision medicine involves an emerging, unique approach to treating and preventing diseases in a manner that considers the individual patient; each person’s genes, environment, and lifestyle all differ from one another, and precision medicine accounts for these differences. Through the application of this method, healthcare professionals and medical researchers will be able to predict which disease-specific treatments and preventative measures are most effective, according to certain demographics.
In contrast, the more common “one size fits all” strategy of patient care revolves around developing treatments and preventative measures for the “average” person, with little regard given to the important differences between each individual.
For precision medicine, the objective is to target the best medications to the right patients at the right time. Its overarching goal is to develop a deep understanding of how a person’s genetics, environment, and lifestyle can influence the efficacy of treatment methods when it comes to illness.
Therefore, precision medicine also encompasses pharmacogenomics, which is the study of how individual genes affect the way in which a person’s body responds to specific medications. This relatively novel area of study aims to create effective, secure treatments and dosages that can be adapted to genetic variations in each person; it combines pharmacology—the science of drugs—with genomics—the study of genes and the roles they play.
When it comes to cancer treatment, precision medicine analyzes the DNA from patients’ tumors to determine which mutations—or other genetic factors—are responsible for their cancer. From there, physicians can select a treatment method for an individual patient that will best target the cancer culprit, based on the analysis of their tumor DNA.
Targeted therapy, which focuses on specific genetic biomarkers, is made possible by precision oncology. By protecting healthy cells and reducing side effects, targeted therapies can prevent cancer cells carrying that genetic biomarker from growing and proliferating.
Doctors might use precision medicine to help them:
● Determine patients who are at a high risk of developing cancer and help them reduce that risk.
● Detect specific cancers earlier.
● Correctly diagnose different types of cancer.
● Decide which treatments will be most effective for their patient.
● Evaluate the efficacy of ongoing treatment.
Precision medicine can guide treatment selection for several prevalent malignancies, including:
● Colorectal cancer
● Breast cancer
● Lung cancer
● Certain types of leukemia
● Certain types of lymphoma
● Melanoma
● Esophageal cancer
● Stomach cancer
● Ovarian cancer
● Thyroid cancer
Precision oncology has seen some major successes thus far. Imatinib—an oral chemotherapy medication—has a 95% response rate in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and extends quality-adjusted life by about 9 years. Venetoclax—a BCL-2 inhibitor—has an 80% response rate in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have a 17p deletion. The cure rate for the most common childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is 90% with precision oncology.
One of the latest developments in precision medicine is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to advance the conventional, symptom-driven practice of medicine. Through the application of these technologies, physicians can implement earlier interventions and better-tailor more economical treatments to each patient.
Through the application of precision medicine, physicians are able to review relevant information on each patient to more accurately construct personalized treatment plans or therapies. As the field of precision medicine advances, it is possible physicians may one day be able to prevent severe illnesses—such as cancer—from occurring in the first place.
Some additional advantages of precision medicine are:
1. A higher emphasis on prevention, not reaction
2. Ability to determine a patient’s susceptibility to a particular illness
3. Earlier and more accurate illness detection
4. Prevention of disease spread
5. Ability to prescribe more effective medications
6. Ability to avoid prescribing medications with known side effects
7. Decrease in durations, expenses, and failure rates of clinical drug trials
8. Decrease in inefficiencies caused by trial-and-error medicating, which raise healthcare costs and result in poorer patient care
Some concerns regarding the widespread implementation of precision medicine include higher healthcare costs, fear of genetic discrimination, misinterpretation of genetic data, access and accessibility to accurate genetic testing, and a relatively unprepared primary care workforce.
In order to implement precision medicine in a manner that takes full advantage of its potential, healthcare professionals must acquire in-depth knowledge of molecular genetics and biochemistry. Should precision medicine become a standard component of routine healthcare, they will need to be able to correctly analyze genetic test results, and accurately connect that information to preventative methods and treatment options, and effectively communicate their findings to their patients.
However, precision medicine’s potential for positively influencing the way medicine is practiced cannot be understated. Though precision medicine is currently most advanced in the field of oncology, it possesses expansive and adaptive capabilities that can be applied to other conditions, such as genetic disorders and other, uncommon medical disorders.
If you are interested in learning more about precision medicine, this online CME course bundle has been designed to meet the educational needs of multiple healthcare professions. It has been approved for a total of 10 AMA PRA Category 1 credits, and its 10 modules focus on an evidence-based approach to the development and practice of precision medicine.
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