The Importance of Precision Medicine: The Next Frontier in Treatment

Precision medicine is an innovative approach to cancer treatment based on a person’s individual biology. Instead of using a one-size-fits-all method, precision medicine looks to provide the right treatment based on the patient’s needs, targeting the cancer while minimizing harm to healthy cells. Potential precision medicine treatments can be identified through genetic testing for inherited mutations and tumor biomarker testing.

Biomarker testing of tumor tissue reveals the tumor’s biology, such as genes and proteins within the tumor. Genetic testing for inherited mutations shows mutations a person is born with. This information about molecular alterations can help oncologists identify precision medicine treatments which can include targeted therapies, immunotherapies, chemotherapies and more.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers, with a five-year survival rate below 20%. Often diagnosed at a late stage, pancreatic cancer poses a challenge in treatment; however, advancements in precision medicine have created new opportunities for more effective and targeted treatments. Today, it is more common for pancreatic cancer patients to get treatment based on their tumor’s biology or their genetic makeup. PanCAN's Know Your Tumor® service provides you and your healthcare team with information about your tumor's biology through free tissue biomarker testing and genetic testing for inherited mutations.

Learn more about precision medicine and how you can benefit. In this blog, PanCAN Chief Science Officer, Lynn Matrisian, PhD, MBA, and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, Anna Berkenblit, MD, MMSc, express optimism that a new wave of precision medicine breakthroughs may bring progress to pancreatic cancer that other types of cancer have seen over the past several decades.