Precision Oncology: The new-age therapy to tailor specific treatment options

BENGALURU: Cancer is a group of rogue cells which are growing rapidly but at the cost of the normal cells which thereby take up the life of the host. Cancer cells are constantly evolving. So, absolutely no single drug can give an effective cure for cancer.

The fact that these cells also keep evolving with time as the treatment progresses, has allowed us to develop precise specific treatment options that  are aimed at eliminating these cancerous cells.

Precision Oncology not only involves precision therapy but also precision diagnostics, to identify the different cell types a person may be carrying. So, we now have molecular classifications in colon and breast cancers that enable us to tailor specific treatment options, be it precise medical, surgical or radiation measures. Personalised, precise medicine in the face of the ever-changing cancer cell, involves not only periodic intense testing but also analysis of this data in comparison to all the acquired knowledge in that type of cancer and this is made possible by the role of AI (Artificial Intelligence) .

It is not just the cancer cells that are becoming better understood, but also the human body immune response to it. A new specific therapy involves removing the patients own T cell (a type of White Blood Cell) and adding a specific receptor on it and re-infusing it back into the person. These new T cells bind to the cancer cells and eliminate them with great precision. These are known as CAR T cell (Chimeric Antigen Receptor). Finally, we have Nanotechnology in cancer where chemotherapy agents are bound to small nano particles which have tumor specific cell marker and thereby, when infused into the person it targets itself only to cancer cells and releases the drug specifically on to it.Precision medicine is about right treatment, every time, to each and every one.

(The author is a senior consultant, Medical Oncologist and Hemato-Oncologist, Vikram Hospital)