Abstract
Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. Precision medicine is transforming clinical and biomedical research, as well as health care itself from a conceptual, as well as a methodological viewpoint, providing extraordinary opportunities to improve public health and lower the costs of the healthcare system. However, the implementation of precision medicine poses ethical–legal, regulatory, organizational, and knowledge-related challenges. Without a national strategy, precision medicine, which will be implemented one way or another, could take place without the appropriate planning that can guarantee technical quality, equal access of all citizens to the best practices, violating the rights of patients and professionals, and jeopardizing the solvency of the healthcare system. With this paper from the Spanish Societies of Medical Oncology, Pathology, and Hospital Pharmacy, we highlight the need to institute a consensual national strategy for the development of precision medicine in our country, review the national and international context, comment on the opportunities and challenges for implementing precision medicine, and outline the objectives of a national strategy on precision medicine in cancer.
Highlights
International and national contexts and initiativesThere is no universal definition for the term ‘‘precision medicine’’, probably, the most widely accepted is the one provided by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that defines it as ‘‘an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person’’ [1]
With this paper from the Spanish Societies of Medical Oncology (SEOM), Pathology (SEAP), and Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH), we propose to highlight the need to institute a consensual national strategy for the development of precision medicine in our country and promote its implementation in the clinical practice with equity and with assurances in terms of quality, efficiency, and legal & R
Precision medicine has already become a reality in daily clinical practice in certain disciplines such as oncology; is its implementation an ethical mandate and obligation of policy insofar as it represents an indisputable improvement in the treatment of patients and prevention of disease, but it has been proven to foster the sustainability of the healthcare system in certain cases, by selecting patients with a greater likelihood of response, keeping patients from being exposed to expensive, unnecessary treatments, while minimizing complications derived from therapies with scant or no possibility of
Summary
International and national contexts and initiativesThere is no universal definition for the term ‘‘precision medicine’’, probably, the most widely accepted is the one provided by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that defines it as ‘‘an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person’’ [1]. Abstract Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
