Imagine that your genes are the recipes for how cells should grow and behave, and that your body is like a kitchen. When a recipe goes wrong, such as when the oven is left on for too long or the wrong ingredients are used, cancer can occur. The outcome? a dish (cell) with uncontrollable growth. Now, doctors use precision medicine to read those recipes and figure out exactly what went wrong. This allows them to choose the best solution, like changing the ingredients to get the dish back on track. Precision medicine assists doctors in locating the error and repairing the dish, analogizing cancer to a recipe gone awry. In particular, precision medicine makes use of the genomic makeup of your cancer to develop the precise treatment strategy required to combat it.
Vinay Edlukudige Keshava, MD, a hematologist and medical oncologist at Bayhealth Cancer Institute, makes important points about how precision medicine is changing cancer care and assisting doctors in creating treatment plans that are tailored to the specific types of cancer that their patients have. Recognizing the Importance of Precision Cancer Care What if there were a better method for selecting and administering cancer treatment, one that assists physicians and patients in selecting the most effective option, including medication that is tailored to each patient? That’s the idea behind precision medicine. It personalizes cancer care by guiding the right tests and treatments for certain types of cancer.
It can also help:
Genomic, genetic, DNA, biomarker, or molecular profiling may replace the terms “precision or personalized medicine” for some doctors. These terms refer to specific strategies that some providers may employ when planning your care. How Precision Medicine Helps Treat Cancer
Like adjusting a recipe, doctors use precision medicine to run specific lab tests to pinpoint the problem and develop a personalized treatment plan for you. It’s like tweaking the ingredients to get the dish just right. However, not all cancers can be fixed with precision medicine right now because not all cancers have the right tests or the science to help them change in the same way.
The following are some of the most frequently treated cancers that make use of precision medicine to direct treatment plans: If your cancer type has treatment options based on specific gene or protein changes, it’s likely your cancer will be tested for them. You may need to ask your doctor if this testing was done. Testing is usually done at the time of diagnosis or if the cancer gets worse or comes back during treatment.
What To Ask Your Doctor about Precision Medicine
If you have already been diagnosed with cancer, the following questions about precision medicine should be asked of your doctor: To examine genes or other markers, does my cancer necessitate special testing, such as molecular or mutation testing?
- What can these tests tell us about my cancer and how to treat it?
- Are any clinical trials examining targeted therapy for my type of cancer currently underway?
- Will I need to take any more tests?
- Will my insurance cover the cost, and how much will it cost?
If your family history or other factors put you at greater risk for cancer, here are some questions you might want to ask your doctor:
- Does my history of cancer run in my family?
- Should I get genetic testing or talk to a genetic counselor?
- How much does it cost, and is it covered by insurance?
- What would the test results mean for me and my care?
- Would my family need to get tested too?
Changing the Game with Cancer By tailoring treatment to each patient’s specific genetics, precision medicine is revolutionizing the way cancer is treated. Like adjusting a recipe, doctors use tests to pinpoint what’s gone wrong with your cells and tailor treatments. Although it is not yet available for all types of cancer, it offers hope for many of them and assists physicians in selecting the most effective treatments. Talking to your doctor about precision medicine can help direct your treatment plan and get you on the road to better health, whether you are at risk or have already been diagnosed.
