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| Precision Medicine? |
Precision Medicine
Precision Medicine is an advanced method of
diagnosing and treating a specific disease. This term is also referred to as Personalized medicine. Precision Medicine examines how a particular gene
influences a person’s likelihood of
developing a particular disease. Based on the genetic makeup of the patient, the doctor
can provide prescribed medicine. Precision medicine provides precise diagnosis
and better treatment therapy.
Purpose of Precision Medicine:
The purpose of personalized medicine is to find
precise therapy based on a person’s symptoms and indications of illness. For
instance, all cancer therapies have some negative effects on patients. First, we
need to know the genetic makeup of an individual and understand genetic
variants and how they may alter a gene of a person to develop a risk of any
disease e.g. diabetes, cancer, or asthma, and response to the treatment of
personalized medicine may be beneficial.
Some of the genetic variants may be dangerous while others would not
pose any harm. Doctors use personalized medicine for the following reasons:
- 1. To know who is at high risk of developing the disease
- 2. Provide the best treatment through early detection of tumors and diagnosis of any other diseases
- 3. Assessment of treatment therapy of diseases
- 4. Identify a particular type of disease
Precision Medicine aids with recognizing patients who are at high risk of developing diseases, detecting diseases at early stages, proper diagnosis, providing appropriate treatment, and treatment monitoring.
Precision medicine assists in selecting the best and most appropriate treatment for a particular disease for every patient.
There are some types of cancers where personalized medicine is applied
for curing tumor growth. Examples of precision medicine in cancer types are breast cancer, lung, stomach, ovaries, thyroid cancer, etc.
Why Need Precision Medicine?
Precision Medicine is an advanced method of diagnosing and treating a specific disease. Take an example of Precision medicine for an allergy or asthma related to a breathing issue. They all have a common asset in each patient a failure in the breathing system. These patients are treated with the same medication which is a nebulizer, inhaler, or Ventolin. But there are different kinds of respiratory problems. Some patients have mild issues, some have chronic and, some have acute.
The disease varies
with the atmosphere condition, the area where you live, the heritage history of a
person, and the age of a person. It also
depends on items present in the house or domestic animals may be responsible for
breathing difficulty. Some food allergies may lead to respiratory disorders. So,
every patient is different and universal treatment does not work for each patient.
There is a variety of respiratory allergies depending on different causes and
indications. Not only allergies but also
cancer, diabetes, and other disorders may have different causes and origins of
disease.
So, now researchers are discovering fundamental
causes of disease which include the health history of the patient, the genetic makeup of a
patient, and other factors. In this way, researchers will be able to comprehend health risks and how patients respond to a particular disease, and ways to prevent disease. Through this information, the patient can receive appropriate treatment at the appropriate time.
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| How does Personalized medicine work? |
Example of Precision Medicine:
Let's talk about Precision medicine examples in cancer. Every cancer cell is caused by a genetic mutation. Cancer cells are normal cells that undergo mutation and develop into tumor cells. Depending on Gene mutation, increases a person’s risk of developing a particular type of cancer. A particular medicine is given to patients to treat tumors.
For instance, if two persons have the same form of cancer but their gene alterations would differ. It’s possible to treat both patients differently with the same medicine. To know whether the patient responds better to one treatment or another, there is a need to test for a genetic mutation in the cancer cells of that person.
People who are likely to develop a certain type of cancer employ precision medicine. For instance, if cancer is in the genetic history of a patient then the doctor recommends genetic testing. The testing shows that if a person has a gene mutation that increases his risk of developing particular cancer.
Then further screening is done to discover tumor growth at
early stages. There are several tests applied for cancer diagnosis and other
diseases. The test could be done by biomarkers, chromosomal testing, or genetic
testing. A sample of blood or body fluid is taken from the patient and the test is conducted in a lab
at the molecular level or several testing techniques including screening and next-generation sequencing methods.
Role of Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer:
Two genes code for breast cancer BRCA1 and BRCA2. Different aspects of lifestyle, genetic history, hormone receptors, or genes contribute to the growth of the tumor. If the tumor test is positive for HER2, the treatment is specific to Herceptin. It is known to reduce HER 2 tumor growth. Tamoxifen is a treatment needed to cure the early stages of breast cancer which has hormone receptors.
These breast tumor growths develop in the presence and absence of
estrogen and progesterone hormone. The tumor needs estrogen to grow. The tumor
growth is stopped when tamoxifen prevents the binding of estrogen on the receptor cells
of cancer. PARP Inhibitors present in chemotherapy may reduce cancer cells in
people who carry a pathogenic variation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Lynparaza drug, a
kind of PARP inhibitor is used to treat breast cancer and other malignancies linked
to genes of breast cancer.
Limitations of Precision Medicine:
The new advancement in Precision medicine is still
not available and commercialized yet. There is no clinical study based on
Precision Medicine. A person should have a particular gene mutation for a
medicine to be targeted that is being investigated to be part of a clinical study for precision medicine. Large centers are available for the assessment
of clinical studies of personalized medicine.
We are unable to know if the genetic testing is accurate or not. For
instance, if a person diagnosing with a particular disease type case of
cancer, the tumor cell is not tested to evaluate any change in the gene causing
mutation.
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