Perhaps nothing epitomizes the fusion of traditional and western medicine
more than predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine. It takes
not just a holistic but also a quantitative and mathematical approach to practicing
medicine. Personalized medicine is designed for the specific genetic, epigenetic and
environmental properties of patients and their diseased cells. Diagnoses, treatments and
cures are improving for diseases caused by a single gene (Mendelian). As the costs of
genotyping with microarrays and complete DNA sequencing continue to drop, new
collaborative projects become possible. Biomarkers are being discovered through
advanced genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and imaging technologies. This has a very
high priority because they can improve the diagnosis of a disease, define subsets of
patients and use appropriate therapies for them. Clinical trials are being modernized by
automation and improved data management. Instead of just making the medicine
specific for the DNA that a person is born with, it can be made specific for the mutated
DNA that is in a type of cancer or other disease. This is being done by developing monoclonal
antibodies, which will bind to receptors that are specific for a particular type
of cancer. Some of them are even parts of FDA-approved medications. Most can’t kill
cells by themselves, but they can still bind to cancer-specific antigens and deliver drugs
that are covalently attached to the monoclonal antibody. Even treatments for diseases
that are caused by many factors (genetic and environmental) are benefiting from P4
medicine.
Keywords: Avastin®, Biomarkers, Campath®, Erbitux®, Gene chips, Herceptin®,
Metabolome, Next generation sequencing, Personalized medicine, Rituxan®,
Vectibix®.
