Precision medicine new trend in treating cancer: Experts

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Precision medicines or personalised medicines, where the doctors devise medicine and treatment as per the individual need of patients with minimal or no side effects, can be a new technique for cancer prevention and treatment, experts said here on Thursday.

Precision medicine is being seen as a new trend in the treatment of cancer with better selection of disease targets and identification of patient population that demonstrates improved clinical outcomes.

Experts, who were speaking at a panel discussion "Precision Medicine – Trends in Oncology", stressed that this moves away from the concept of one size fits all but rather focuses on the right medicine for the right patient at the right dose and at the right time.

"The cure rate of cancer depends on the stage of diagnosis. Either in the advanced stage or final stage the role of precision is very important," said Purvish Parekh, president of the Indian Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology.

"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," added Parekh.

With precision oncology, doctors are capable of diagnosing, preventing and treating cancer through development of treatment strategies to target specific molecular alterations for individual cases.

"Today, with so many new cases of cancer being reported on a daily basis and so many people losing their battle against this disease, precision medicine offers a ray of hope. 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 Himanshu Kansara, managing director of Wincere Inc, a clinical research organisation.