WHY THEY CALL IT “PRECISION MEDICINE”

Precision medicine, sometimes referred to as “personalized medicine,” is a field closely tied to molecular medicine. Defined by the Food and Drug Administration as “an innovative approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment that takes into account differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles,” precision medicine brings the promise of new ways to extend the duration and quality of life for those afflicted with certain diseases or conditions, or even cure them. Below we’ll examine how precision medicine is being applied and increasingly becoming a recognized, mainstream field.

HOW PRECISION MEDICINE IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Precision medicine is being harnessed in many beneficial ways, including:

Cancer Treatments

Researchers can now identify different subtypes of cancer and place them into narrower categories, enabling more focused treatment efforts. This newfound insight heralds a promising phase in cancer research known as precision oncology, where physicians select treatments tailored to the DNA profile of each patient’s tumor.

In the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy, researchers are leveraging the body’s immune system to combat cancer cells, often controlling or even eradicating the disease. Decades of research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has yielded various types of cancer immunotherapy drugs, including synthetic versions of natural immune-system molecules like anti-cancer antibodies that provide the same disease-fighting benefits.

Broader Pharmaceutical Interventions

We know that medication efficacy is not universal. Some patients may not respond to a medication favorably, either getting no results, experiencing difficult side effects or requiring a very high dosage. Targeting treatment to the individual, whether through immunotherapy or prescription drugs, is very much part of precision medicine. Today’s pharmaceutical companies can cost-effectively read an individual’s DNA sequence, compare it to the DNA of other individuals and uncover similarities in drug response to determine more precise dosing. This vital field is called pharmacogenomics.

Undiagnosed Diseases

Not all diseases are well known or widely understood by the public. Yet people still suffer from such illnesses and deserve effective and equitable treatment. The NIH initiated its Undiagnosed Disease Program to concentrate on mysterious diseases which affect people in small numbers but, in combination with other undiagnosed diseases, impact tens of millions of Americans. Treatments have emerged from these efforts, as well as a greater understanding of more common conditions such as viral infections.

GROWING RECOGNITION OF PRECISION MEDICINE

NBA icon, healthcare and education champion, social activist, author and actor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is but one high-profile proponent of precision medicine. In 2008, he was diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML), which has a high mortality rate. The Philadelphia chromosome creates an abnormal protein, BCR-ABL, that has been determined to be the source of CML. Since he began taking a medication designed to target BCR-ABL, Abdul-Jabbar has regained his health and now credits precision medicine for his recovery.

Precision medicine has gotten some major boosts in the last decade, with the establishment of the Precision Medicine Initiative in 2015 and the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act by Congress in 2016 to support that initiative. But it is an evolving science that requires our ongoing attention and efforts to allow it to render “the right treatment at the right time, tailored to a patient’s individual needs,” as stated by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

MAKE YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD

Precision medicine concepts and practices are a core component of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s online Molecular Medicine Graduate Certificate. UMMC is dedicated to establishing methods of diagnosing and treating diseases by recognizing how cellular molecules function, and this Program is an extension of that mission. As a graduate, you can pursue further studies and professional roles in which you can make significant contributions of your own to precision medicine and molecular medicine.

What you can expect from our Graduate Certificate Program:

Affordable tuition
Small class sizes
One-on-one attention
Asynchronous online courses that accommodate your schedule
Flexible course selection
Program completion in as few as two semesters

See potential careers and corresponding salaries associated with our Certificate.

View full Program details and apply here.

Sources:
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/precision-medicine
https://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2022/winter/story-03.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23064-dna-genes–chromosomes https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/precisionmedicine/definition/