New technology always peeks out from around the corner. Modern medicine chugs along just fine, but some people think precision medicine could be the future. Precision medicine is an individualized, specialized approach, and it could have major impacts in treating cancers like glioblastoma. Keep reading to learn more, or follow the original story here.
A lot of times people think of variables as something to fear. No plan survives contact with the enemy because the enemy represents points of data that cannot be measured. Cancers like glioblastoma utilize a variety of tricks that can defy expectations. In a precision medicine approach, however, variables become a doctor’s and patient’s friend.
“When it comes to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, precision medicine takes an individual’s variability to his or her advantage,” said Michael Thompson, MD, PhD.
Dr. Thompson also serves as co-director of the Aurora Health Care Oncology Precision Medicine program. He describes how an individual’s tumor, on a molecular level, may provide cues to create accurate and specialized treatment.
Aurora runs a precision medicine clinic that functions as a collaborative effort between oncologists, pharmacists, pathologists, researchers, radiologists, and genetic counselors.
This diversity allows the center to provide a wide variety of treatments besides radiation and chemotherapy. The approaches practiced by aurora are especially useful against cancers that have proven resistant to other, more common, forms of treatment.
Through a combination of molecular testing, clinical treatment, and research, Aurora to broaden its horizons. Using information from a patient’s genetic workup, for example, Aurora seeks to better select medication that is appropriate for each patient. Researchers hope this will lower the chance of cardiac risk associated with several cancer drugs.
In the case of glioblastoma, precision medicine allows for the detection of molecular targets. These targets can be used to better understand the cancer and patient which may result in more effective treatment. Click here to learn more about glioblastoma.
More information regarding Aurora’s efforts, and precision medicine endeavors can be found here along with information on how to support further research.
