Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Updated : February 24, 2015 10:11 AM IST
In a panel discussion 'Precision Medicine - Trends in Oncology,' held on Thursday, experts emphasised the importance of the concept of precision medicine in cancer treatment. The concept diverts from the earlier strategy of devising a standardised treatment approach to treat cancer patients. It focuses on a personalised approach of treatment that will be specific and will vary from patient to patient. In simpler terms, precision medicine is all about delivering the right medicine at the right time for the right patient. This kind of treatment approach helps in minimising the overall side-effect of the treatment, say experts.
Experts at the panel included Purvish Parekh, president of the Indian Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology and Himanshu Kansara, managing director of Wincere Inc, a clinical research organisation. Here's what they had to say about the trend.
'About 65 to 70 percent cancers are curable, but in India only 33 percent get cured, so there is a need to move towards precision medicine which will not only improve patient care but also reduce health care cost,' said Parekh.
'We are committed to serving the scientific community and recognizing the importance of emerging technologies and new electronic data within the drug development cycle to better equip the health industry and serve people,' said Kansara.
We asked Dr Dhairyasheel Savant, Consultant Cancer & Reconstructive Surgeon and Secretary Indian Association of Surgical Oncology at Asian Institute of Oncology about the role of precision medicine in providing better treatment outcome in patients.
'Cancer therapeutics is now becoming more and more personalised. Increasingly the newer treatment protocols are being tweaked to better suit Indian patients, especially. With precision medicine even the dosages, the frequency, the method of administration and the types of surgery or the sequencing of various modalities be it surgery or chemotherapy or radiotherapy are modified as per individual patients, keeping the overall guidelines intact. This ultimately results in better patient compliance. With that being said, more and more patients are found to complete their course of treatment. Although this is the era of evidence-based medicine and treatment, still personalised or precision treatment is now ensuring better results and will be the way forward,' he said.
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