Everything about it

Precision therapy, also known as personalized therapy or targeted therapy, is a form of cancer treatment that uses genetic and molecular information to tailor treatment to a patient's specific cancer. The goal of precision therapy is to identify and target the specific genetic alterations that drive a particular cancer, while minimizing damage to healthy cells.

In precision therapy, doctors use a variety of tests to analyze a tumor's genetic makeup and identify specific mutations or alterations that are driving the growth and spread of cancer cells. These tests may include genetic sequencing, which can detect specific mutations in a tumor's DNA, as well as tests to measure protein expression or other molecular markers.

Once a tumor's genetic profile has been identified, doctors can then select treatments that are specifically designed to target the altered genes or proteins. This may include targeted therapies, which are drugs that are designed to block the activity of specific molecules that are driving cancer growth, or immunotherapies, which activate the immune system to attack cancer cells.

Photo by Minh Pham

Precision therapy has been shown to be effective for many types of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma, among others. In some cases, precision therapy may be used alone, while in other cases it may be combined with other forms of treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

One of the benefits of precision therapy is that it can help doctors to identify patients who are most likely to benefit from a particular treatment, while avoiding treatments that are unlikely to be effective. This can help to minimize side effects and reduce the cost of treatment.

However, precision therapy is not without its challenges. One of the main challenges is that tumors can develop resistance to targeted therapies over time, making them less effective. In addition, precision therapy is not yet available for all types of cancer, and it can be expensive and time-consuming to perform the necessary genetic testing and analysis.

Despite these challenges, precision therapy holds great promise as a way to improve cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. As research continues to uncover new genetic and molecular targets for cancer therapy, precision therapy is likely to become an increasingly important tool in the fight against cancer.