Personalized Medicine in Cancer

Molecular Biology and Genetics have provided the scientific and medical community with the understanding of cancer as a disease of our genes. While cancer in general refers to the occurrence of uncontrolled growth and spread of cells, it has become evident that this abnormal cellular behavior resulted from changes in the genomic DNA of these cells. To date, a large number of genetic and chromosomal aberrations have been associated with the many different types of cancers that are recognized. These findings not only greatly contributed to insight in the molecular mechanisms underlying cancers, but also to substantial advances in cancer treatment. With the emergence of the high-throughput technologies, such as microarray technology, it became possible to study the behavior of tens of thousands of genes simultaneously. This now allows the measurement of lists of genes - known as genes signatures - whose expression (or sequence) are uniquely associated with specific cancer types and clinical outcomes. Also, gene signatures that associate with responsiveness to certain cancer drugs have been discovered. By measuring gene signatures in individual patients, a physician can obtain useful information for determining the best treatment strategy for that patient. This individual patient driven approach has become known as personalized medicine and is considered the future of modern medicine.