Reynaldo Perez DC | What Is Precision Medicine?

Precision medicine is a novel approach to illness treatment and prevention. This approach provides customized healthcare by tailoring disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention to an individual’s unique case, targeting the right therapies to suitable patients at the right time. The result is improved clinical outcomes, reduced unnecessary treatments, and lowered healthcare costs. This differs from the traditional “one-size-fits-all” approach based on population averages.

The Origins of Precision Medicine

The concept of precision medicine originated with the completion of the first draft of the human genome sequence in 2000. This gave scientists an in-depth look at human DNA and genetics, allowing a greater understanding of genes and genetic variations’ roles in disease. High-throughput techniques allowed researchers to generate large volumes of genomic, microbiomic, proteomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic data from individuals. Computer analytics empowered researchers to integrate and analyze these massive, multi-dimensional datasets to gain new insights into health and disease.

The terminology was first introduced in a National Academy of Sciences report. This report called for a new disease taxonomy based on molecular biology and the development of a knowledge network to enable the sharing, integration, and analysis of diverse biomedical data at the individual level. President Obama established the Precision Medicine Initiative, allocating more than $200 million to quicken the pace of precision medicine research. This initiative later became the All of Us Research Program, which aims to gather medical, genetic, behavioral, and environmental data from one million or more diverse volunteers to drive precision medicine research and health outcomes.

Critical Components of Precision Medicine

• Molecular profiling — Using diagnostic tests to characterize an individual’s genes and proteins can help determine disease risk, diagnosis, optimal treatment, and prognosis. Examples include genetic testing, liquid biopsies, and microbiome analysis.
• High-throughput technologies — Platforms like next-generation sequencing and mass spectrometry enable rapid, large-scale biological data generation from individuals. This facilitates molecular profiling.
• Computational analytics — Advanced methods to integrate, analyze, and interpret large, diverse biological and health data sets allow researchers to find patterns and biological signatures associated with disease.
• Health information systems — Electronic health records, patient portals, and health apps facilitate data collection, information sharing, and patient engagement across healthcare systems.

Precision Medicine in Practice

• Pharmacogenomics testing guides drug selection and dosing based on an individual’s genetics to control drug reactions and improve efficacy. Based on the molecular makeup of tumors, companion diagnostics determine which patients will respond to targeted therapies. For instance, HER2 testing directs the management of breast cancer.
• Immune therapies are tailored to target specific proteins or mutations that drive the growth of a patient’s cancer cells. This e nables high-risk patients to adopt preventive measures, like frequent cancer screening or lifestyle changes.
• Health sensors and mobile health apps collect real-time data on individuals’ physiological signals and environmental exposures. This can be integrated with other data to provide personalized care recommendations.

The Future of Precision Medicine

Researchers and healthcare professionals are actively exploring various avenues to revolutionize medicine. They are expanding molecular profiling techniques to develop targeted therapies and companion diagnostics, integrating diverse data types into predictive algorithms to guide decision-making, using artificial intelligence to uncover new patterns in multi-dimensional data, advancing clinical decision support systems that offer patient-specific, evidence-based recommendations, empowering individuals through personal health technologies and patient portals, and developing predictive and preventive strategies tailored to individuals’ risk profiles. These efforts aim to enhance treatment precision, improve patient care, enable patient empowerment, and foster proactive approaches to healthcare.

Originally published at https://reynaldoperezdc.com.