MONTREAL - Custom-made therapy rather than a one-size-fits-all approach is being hailed as the new medical reality, but theres a gap between great expectations and what current technology and limited means can offer, especially when it comes to treatment for cancer patients, experts say.

A provincial cancer advocacy group will be looking at the promise of personalized medicine at a symposium in Montreal Wednesday featuring top-notch researchers in cancer and novel treatments.

The conference coincides with a series of public hearings by the Quebec commission on ethics in science and technology, held in Montreal, Quebec and Rimouski, on personalized medicine: Who? How? And at what price?

What does personalized medicine actually mean to the patient, the researcher, the commercial developer and to society, which may or may not be able to pay the costs generated by new technologies, said Nathalie Rodrigue of the Coalition Priorit Cancer, whose advocacy group supports patients timely access to advanced treatments.

Personalized medicine is a proactive approach to health care based on technological advances that enable the use of genetic or molecular information in treating and preventing disease, according to the definition by CEPMED, the Montreal-based centre for excellence in personalized medicine.

That innovation includes whole genome sequencing or spelling out a persons entire DNA genetic code, as an option for personalized prevention programs and follow-up medical treatment.

Some scientists are going beyond genome analysis and using cutting-edge sequencing to identify mutations at the root of a patients tumour. Cancer treatment is then determined by various tests during a patients treatment to see how the tumour evolves and reacts to medication.

Science can do a lot to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment, said research oncologist Mark Basik of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital.

But we have to go very slowly and carefully adapt all these discoveries to the clinic, Basik said. Some renowned clinics in the United States started tests for personalized treatment of certain tumours only to discover that the therapy was not hitting its target because the tumour had evolved again, he added.

Or, they were not confirmed in larger trials so those tests were offered prematurely, he said. Its a shortcut we cannot take. We have to make sure repeatedly that these things do what they are meant to do.

Original post:
Symposium to explore personalized medicine

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