WCM Chairwoman: 'We need precision medicine — now'

Academic medical centers have long imagined a therapeutic approach that personalizes treatment based on a patient’s genes, lifestyle and environment. Today, researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and other institutions are closer than ever to realizing the vision of precision medicine.

Studies have shown promising results in patients. At Weill Cornell Medicine, our initial efforts in precision medicine have focused on treating cancer more effectively while minimizing the side effects of traditional chemotherapy, like hair loss or low blood cell counts.

“Patients with advanced disease, who have often run out of other options, come in for DNA sequencing at the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine,” explained Jessica M. Bibliowicz, the chairwoman of the Board of Overseers of Weill Cornell Medicine, in a blog post for The Hill.

“This extra layer of information has prompted doctors to try drugs and combinations that might not have been considered before: an individual with bladder cancer receives a breast cancer drug because of her genetic makeup, for example.  Increasingly, patients are able to beat the odds and live longer, fuller lives, but there are still hurdles to be overcome,” she wrote.

The federal government, through the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative, has stepped in to help bring precision medicine closer to reality, but more can be done to bring these personalized treatments to more patients, Bibliowicz said.

Read her entire post on The Hill here.