During the last two decades, technological advancements have delivered groundbreaking new insights into the molecular activities of cancerous cells. We have learned that every person’s cancer has unique biomarkers that, when measured, can help physicians design the best prevention and treatment plan based on a patient’s individual cancer.
Daryl Pritchard, Ph.D.
President, Personalized Medicine Coalition
Biomarkers are biological molecules or indicators that can be measured to provide information about a patient’s cancer status, disease progression, or response to treatment. In personalized medicine, they are used to target treatment strategies to individual patient characteristics, optimizing efficacy and minimizing adverse effects. Biomarkers help in treatment selection and in monitoring disease progression.
Targeted therapies
Targeted therapies are designed to disrupt the activity of mutated proteins that promote cancer growth.
Cancer occurs when genes mutate inside otherwise healthy cells. The mutations cause cancerous cells to produce dysfunctional proteins, called oncoproteins, that lead to uncontrolled cell growth in tumors. The rapidly spreading tumor cells crowd out healthy ones, disrupting the body’s ability to function normally.
Oncologists can use biomarker tests to identify the unique set of oncoproteins fueling the growth of each patient’s cancer. Targeted therapies disrupt specific oncoproteins.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved targeted therapies for more than 30 types of biomarker-defined cancers, including certain forms of breast, lung, and colon cancers.
Multi-cancer early detection testing
Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests can spot cancer-associated biomarkers circulating in the bloodstreams of seemingly healthy people. Such testing promises to deliver unprecedented benefits to patients and health systems by finding cancers at earlier stages, when they are easier and less expensive to treat.
Health systems across the world are studying the long-term effects that broad-based MCED biomarker testing may have on healthcare costs and patient outcomes. Some providers have become early adopters.
The impact of personalized medicine
Targeted therapies and MCED tests are hallmarks of biomarker testing in an era of personalized medicine in cancer care. By providing physicians with new opportunities to alleviate the root causes of cancer and detect cancers at earlier stages in their development, personalized medicine can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of cancer care.
