StemCell Therapy

Personalized medicine is used to learn about a persons genetic makeup and how their tumor grows. Using this data, doctors hope to find prevention, screening, and treatment strategies that may be more effective. They also want to find treatments that cause fewer side effects than the standard options. By performing genetic tests on the cancer cells and on normal cells, doctors may be able to customize treatment to each patients needs.

Creating a personalized cancer screening and treatment plan includes:

Determining the chances that a personwill develop cancer and selecting screening strategies to lower the risk

Matching patients with treatments thatare more likely to be more effective and cause fewer side effects

Predicting the risk of recurrence, whichis the return of cancer

Before personalized medicine, most patients with a specific type and stage of cancer received the same treatment. However, it became clear that some treatments worked better for some patients, than for others. The growth in the field of genetics has led researchers to find genetic differences in people and their tumors. In turn, this explained many of the different responses to treatment. A person with cancer may now still receive a standard treatment plan, such as surgery to remove a tumor. However, the doctor may also be able to recommend some type of personalized cancer treatment. Personalized cancer treatment is now an active part of the treatment plan or as part of a clinical trial. A clinical trial is a research study involving people.

Some examples of personalized medicine strategies for cancer include the following:

Targeted treatments. A targeted treatmenttargets a cancers specific genes and proteins that allow the cancer cells to grow and survive. Researchers are finding new targets each year and creating and testing new drugs for these targets. This is a few, but not all of the cancers where targeted treatments are used.

Breast cancer

Colorectal cancer

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Kidney cancer

Lung cancer

Melanoma

Multiple myeloma

Some types of leukemia and lymphoma

Some types of childhood cancers

Of course, treatment with a targeted therapy depends on finding out whether the tumor has the specific target. This is found by testing a sample of the tumor.

Pharmacogenomics. Pharmacogenomicslooks at how a persons genes affect the way the body processes and responds to drugs. These changes influence how effective and safe a drug is for a person. For example, some peoples bodies may process a medicine more quickly than others. This means that the person would require a higher dose of that drug for it to be effective. However, someone elses body may not process a drug as quickly. The drug would then stay in the bloodstream for a longer time and may cause more severe side effects.

How can pharmacogenomics be used for cancer treatments? Here is an example: People with colorectal cancer sometimes have a specific altered gene. These patients may have serious side effects when treated with the drug, irinotecan (Camptosar). This gene makes it harder for the body to break down the drug. In these patients, doctors prescribe lower amounts of the medicine so patients will have fewer side effects.

Despite the promises of personalized cancer treatments, not all types of cancer have personalized treatment options. Some of these are only offered through a clinical trial and are not yet standard treatment options. Genetic testing for patients and tumor samples may be costly and time-consuming. Also, many insurance plans may not cover the costs of these tests. In addition, some personalized treatments, such as targeted treatments, can also be expensive.

Personalized medicine is an evolving approach to cancer treatment. Doctors still dont know all about the genetic changes that occur in a cancer cell. They also dont know how some of these new cancer treatments work. A targeted therapy may stop working and a promising treatment is no longer effective. Talk with your doctor to learn if personalized cancer treatments may be a part of your treatment plan.

To learn more about personalized cancer care, consider asking your doctor the following questions:

What are my treatment options?

What clinical trials are open to me?

Are there tests available that can help guide treatment choices?

Is this treatment considered an example of personalized medicine? If so, how?

What are the benefits of this treatment?

What are the potential side effects ofthis treatment?

What is my chance of recovery?

Financial Considerations

Introduction to Cancer Research

Originally posted here:
What Is Personalized Cancer Medicine? | Cancer.Net

This entry was posted on August 4, 2016 at 9:36 am and is filed under Personalized Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |