IMPACT OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE IN CANCER

Abstract

Personalized medicine aims to customize therapeutic care based on a person's unique genetic profile. Physicians have tailored care based on individual's health history and the environment. However, the decoding of the human genome in 2003 was an important step towards breakthroughs in personalized medicine, as a clinical care that takes benefits of molecular tools to facilitate highly specific health care based on individual's unique genomic and molecular characteristics. Pharmacogenetics refers to a single gene that influences drug metabolism. However, pharmacogenomics encompasses all genes in the genome that may determine the drug response. Pharmacogenomics enables the improved understanding of disease pathogenesis through genomics research, via identification of new biomarkers for cancer diagnosis. Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics are around to revolutionize the aspect of medicine; yet, many challenges stand in the way. Hike in the cost of genotyping make genetic profiling less attractive and its clinical implementation is also lagging far behind. This book chapter presents an overview of the opportunities and challenges that influence the participation of personalized approach of giving the right drug at the right dose to the right patient.