Precision medicine for cancer patients: Lessons learned and the path forward

摘要

An explosion in our knowledge of cancer biology has occurred in the decade since the elucidation of the human genome. The potential for translation of this genomic information to the therapeutic management of patients has generated great excitement, although, despite some stellar successes, progress has been slower than expected. However, the concept of personalized or "precision" medicine that integrates genomic knowledge (such as molecular analysis of the patient's tumor) and other laboratory research with input from health records, along with social and environmental data, for the selection of the optimal therapy for the individual patient remains attractive.