personalized medicine - debunking the myths
TRANSCRIPT
Debunking the Myths
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
What is personalized medicine?
o Pharmacogenomics is part of a field called personalized medicine — also called
individualized or precision medicine — that aims to customize health care, with decisions
and treatments tailored to each individual patient in every way possible.
o Although genomic testing is still a relatively new development in drug treatment, this field is
expanding.
o Currently, more than 100 drugs have label information regarding pharmacogenomic
biomarkers — some measurable or identifiable segment of genetic information that can be
used to direct the use of a drug. [2]
What is
personalized
medicine?
o Different people respond differently to the same
therapy: while one treatment brings about the
desired success in one group of patients with e.g.
colon cancer, it does not change the condition of
other groups at all, or even leads to adverse
effects (left).
o The reason: the genetic makeup and metabolic
profile of each individual patient influences the
effect of a drug.
o Personalized medicine takes these individual
patterns of cellular and metabolic products into
account in the diagnostic phase: biomarker
diagnostics separates the patients into groups
with similar characteristics, and provides
information on the best individual treatment. This
should enable patients to benefit from their own,
“personal” therapy. Bayer Healthcare
Why do we use
personalized
medicine?
o Personalized medicine can be used to learn about a person's genetic makeup and to unravel the biology of their tumor.
o Using this information, doctors hope to identify prevention, screening, and treatment strategies that may be more effective and cause fewer side effects than would be expected with standard treatments.
o By performing more genetic tests and analysis, doctors may customize treatment to each patient's needs. [3]
MYTHS DEBUNKED
Let’s get the facts straight!
All tumors are the same.
We once thought that cancer was one disease. Now we know that there are many types
of cancer.
Advances in science have shown that a tumor’s makeup (including genes) can vary
greatly.
Even tumors from the same part of the body, such as the breast, are not all the same.
For example, there is thought to be as many as five different kinds of female breast
cancer, depending on the genetic makeup of the tumor. This may explain why a
treatment might work for one person but not another.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
Personalized medicine will only be helpful in the
future.
Biomarkers have already been identified for many types of cancers.
These include breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers, among other tumor types.
Today, they are being used to show a person’s risk for developing cancer, to diagnose the
disease or to guide treatment decisions.
The information in these biomarkers may help the doctor know if a treatment may be
more or less likely to work, or if the cancer might come back, or recur.
Researchers continue to find more biomarkers, making personalized medicine a reality in
more cancers.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
Personalized medicine means there will be a
treatment made specifically for me.
Personalized medicine aims to find the right treatment for the right patient, but does not
mean that treatments are created for each patient.
In many cases, doctors can use information about a person’s or a tumor’s genes and
proteins to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease.
Some cancer tumors have special cells, genes, or proteins called biomarkers.
These biomarkers can give doctors information used to determine what treatment options
may be more or less likely to work for the specific type of cancer the patient has.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
Biomarker testing is only done at the time of a
diagnosis.
Biomarker testing can happen at any time during your diagnosis or treatment.
A doctor may say the right time is after you have been diagnosed, but before you start
treatment.
That way, the test may help the doctor find a treatment that may be best suited for your
type of tumor. If you have already begun treatment, then your doctor might test the
original tumor sample.
This might inform treatment decisions in the next round of therapy. In some cases, doctors
may need to take another sample of your tumor tissue.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
If my test results don’t show I have a biomarker, then
personalized medicine is not an option for me.
If test results do not show a biomarker, your doctor may be able to narrow down
treatment options.
The result may still help a doctor know if a certain treatment is likely to work and whether it
should be used.
In some cases, the doctor may try testing for a different biomarker. Keep in mind that, in
some cases, while biomarker testing can help guide treatment, it is not the only way. And
it may not always be the right approach for every patient.
Your doctor can determine if biomarker testing is right for you.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
If I am a candidate for personalized medicine and
targeted therapy, then only my cancer cells will be
touched and I won’t feel any side effects.
The goal of targeted therapy is to target tumor-specific pathways and try to stop cancer
cells from growing.
That doesn’t mean that healthy cells will never be touched.
There are side effects to any medication, and every person reacts differently to treatment.
The goal of personalized medicine is to help doctors choose a treatment that is more likely
to benefit the patient.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
Doctors make all the decisions related to cancer
treatment.
There are many people involved in making treatment decisions.
As a patient, you play a key role. You should learn all you can about your cancer and
tumor type.
That way, you can be better informed when you work with your doctors to create a plan
that is best for you.
MYTH:
FACTS
[1]
How You Can Help
According to the National Cancer Institute, “the lack of highly characterized biospecimens is the #1 barrier to
the advancement of new therapies.”
Conversant Bio gives patients a way to help fight
their disease, and their doctors a way to advance
pre-clinical disease research.
Contact Us
Conversant Healthcare Systems, Inc. (Conversant Bio)
Take Your Research Further. Faster.
601 Genome Way, Suite 1200
Huntsville, AL 35806
(866) 838-2798 phone
(256) 705-4103 fax
www.conversantbio.com
To find out more about Conversant Bio, email us at
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