Does anyone know the road from a randomized trial to personalized medicine? A review of 'Treating Individuals. From Randomized Trials to Personalised Medicine' Peter M. Rothwell

摘要

If you ever decide to write and sell a book, you should be aware that the title carries more weight than the content, and sometimes the title carries most of the weight. Treating Individuals: From Randomised Trials to Personalised Medicine (edited by Peter M. Rothwell) was a clever choice of a book title . Sounds like the text you have always wanted to read: words of scientific wisdom that will teach you how to weigh the evidence from randomized trials and how to apply the evidence to Mrs Smith in the corner bed in room 376, or to Mr Jones who is about to enter your clinic. The instructions are on the long side - over 300 pages - with about two dozen contributors who 'have not generally seen or commented on other chapters' (pp. x-xi). Consequently, as the editor writes, 'the views expressed are sometimes inconsistent, or even contradictory'. That honest remark is, unfortunately, not the only deficiency of what is supposed to be your friendly teaching tool. I assume, of course, that a book on medical practice is written to teach how to practice medicine and not merely 'to present... different perspectives', (p. xi)