Clinical Implementation of Precision Medicine: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives
Keywords:
precision medicine, target therapy, oncology, next generation sequencingAbstract
Precision medicine has attracted tremendous global attentions in the past few years. A great deal of strikingly successful cases using targeted therapies for cancers and other critical human diseases have been reported and proved the effectiveness of genome-based personalized treatments. The emerging technologies of next generation sequencing (NGS) enable us to decode genetic alterations in a high throughput mode and detect all potential pathogenic mutations simultaneously. Although precision treatments have shown promising perspectives, adoption of precision medicine in clinical settings remains far from satisfactory, especially in the underdeveloped regions. The major challenges include: 1) yet to be standardized genetic tests; 2) Delayed targeted drug development; 3) high cost of targeted drugs; 4) slow acceptance by clinicians. In this review, we will discuss these main obstacles for advancing the precision medicine, and provide insights on how global efforts may need to work out a strategic plan to accelerate the precision medicine and improve the quality of human health.
[N A J Med Sci. 2016;9(3):123-126. DOI: 10.7156/najms.2016.0903123]
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