Personalized medicine is a game changer, says Robert Arceci, MD, co-director of the Ronald A. Matricaria Institute of Molecular Medicine at Phoenix Children's Hospital. It should not be dismissed as simply a popular fad. It has been a dream of those involved in the institute to move in the direction of personalized medicine, and now the methodologies to achieve that dream are finally within grasp. Personalized medicine will have significant implications on the way medicine is practiced and hospitals will have to adapt accordingly.
What is personalized medicine?
Personalized medicine aims at using an individual's genetic make-up to determine which medications and treatments are going to work best for that individual. Not only does it help tailor treatments of diseases, but it offers the opportunity to be preemptive. It will allow physicians to know if a patient has a risk of developing a disease before it happens and if a particular drug can harm a patient before it is given to them, says Dr. Arceci.
Personalized medicine will ultimately result in lower costs because it is cheaper to give the right medicine in the right doses to the right people. "It truly can transform how we practice medicine at every level," he says.
The hospital's role
As the practice of personalized medicine becomes more widespread, hospitals will also experience the need to adapt. That does not mean every hospital and medical center should try and drive the science, but they should be open to collaborations to facilitate such work.
Dr. Arceci describes the ideal system as being like a wheel — with a center and spokes coming out of it. Some of the bigger facilities can bring together the research and technology needed to make strides into the realm of personalized medicine, and through collaborations, smaller facilities and their patients will have access to those resources as well.
The future
Dr. Arceci says that he would love to see hospitals become places that don't just deal with treatment, but places where they find innovative ways to detect and prevent diseases early on. "It would be nice if hospitals weren't just a place you went to when you were sick," he adds. Personalized medicine might make that vision a reality.
For the time being, however, the traditional medical practice retains the patient base, and hence, individualized medicine will have to be integrated into the current practice. "It's like learning how to dance with a new partner," says Dr. Arceci, "Every now and then there will be some bad moves and stepping on each other's toes." Hospitals and staff will need to become more sophisticated in terms of technology and analyzing large data sets to allow for this integration.
But, according to Dr. Arceci, a world where sequencing genomes will be as common as ordering blood counts will happen. Taking steps toward that world has begun and it is important to continue exploring it. "Every patient deserves an individualized approach to care at all levels, from molecular studies to medical caretaker interactions," he says.
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What is personalized medicine?
Personalized medicine aims at using an individual's genetic make-up to determine which medications and treatments are going to work best for that individual. Not only does it help tailor treatments of diseases, but it offers the opportunity to be preemptive. It will allow physicians to know if a patient has a risk of developing a disease before it happens and if a particular drug can harm a patient before it is given to them, says Dr. Arceci.
Personalized medicine will ultimately result in lower costs because it is cheaper to give the right medicine in the right doses to the right people. "It truly can transform how we practice medicine at every level," he says.
The hospital's role
As the practice of personalized medicine becomes more widespread, hospitals will also experience the need to adapt. That does not mean every hospital and medical center should try and drive the science, but they should be open to collaborations to facilitate such work.
Dr. Arceci describes the ideal system as being like a wheel — with a center and spokes coming out of it. Some of the bigger facilities can bring together the research and technology needed to make strides into the realm of personalized medicine, and through collaborations, smaller facilities and their patients will have access to those resources as well.
The future
Dr. Arceci says that he would love to see hospitals become places that don't just deal with treatment, but places where they find innovative ways to detect and prevent diseases early on. "It would be nice if hospitals weren't just a place you went to when you were sick," he adds. Personalized medicine might make that vision a reality.
For the time being, however, the traditional medical practice retains the patient base, and hence, individualized medicine will have to be integrated into the current practice. "It's like learning how to dance with a new partner," says Dr. Arceci, "Every now and then there will be some bad moves and stepping on each other's toes." Hospitals and staff will need to become more sophisticated in terms of technology and analyzing large data sets to allow for this integration.
But, according to Dr. Arceci, a world where sequencing genomes will be as common as ordering blood counts will happen. Taking steps toward that world has begun and it is important to continue exploring it. "Every patient deserves an individualized approach to care at all levels, from molecular studies to medical caretaker interactions," he says.
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