Realising the full potential of precision medicine is key to the future of sustainable healthcare. Precision medicine uses diagnostic tests, imaging, and health information from patients to prevent or treat disease. With in-depth information relevant to a patient’s disease or condition, we can identify the distinct patient populations at risk, and who will be most likely to benefit from a specific treatment.
Beyond treating disease, precision medicine includes prevention, disease screening, diagnostics, and monitoring, which can in turn identify those who are at risk, detect early signs of disease, and find disease subtypes that impact treatment response. There is no doubt that precision medicine is transforming healthcare and is a focus for Janssen, as part of our work to make meaningful change for patients living with cancer and other diseases.
By tailoring medical treatments to the individual characteristics of each patient, precision medicine represents a paradigm shift from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to a personalised way of diagnosing and treating diseases.
In cancer care, precision medicine includes targeted therapy, immunotherapy and genomics and the adoption of such treatments is steadily increasing. In 2019, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved nine new active substances in cancer treatment, five of these are associated with a predictive biomarker. Biomarkers are measurable biological characteristics, derived from human tissues, such as genes and certain proteins. Biomarker testing provides vital insight into how a disease might develop and how a patient might respond to certain treatment.
Harnessing energy from the sun in Ireland makes more than just environmental sense
When it comes to sustainability, smart companies will not take the foot off the pedal
Why recognition of prior learning works for business
Businesses need to transform their finance functions in order to compete and add strategic value
· In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), more than 15 biomarkers have been identified, nine of which have approved therapeutics developed to specifically target them.
· Similarly, patients with certain mutations treated with precisely targeted therapies have observed more effective results than the previous standard of care in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and reduced tumour size in bladder cancer.
· Precision medicine also encompasses CAR T-cell therapy, which works like a ‘living drug’ in the body by tracking and hunting cancer cells. In January this year, the first ever clinical study in Ireland of CAR-T cell therapy for treating multiple myeloma opened at St James’s Hospital Dublin, supported by Janssen.
Many patients whose diseases are driven by identifiable and targetable mutations, do not receive the most appropriate personalised treatment for their disease because their mutation remains undetected. Advocating for access to biomarker testing is a key part of our strategy to make this happen. The diagnostic testing methods which enable patient identification need to become part of routine clinical practice.
Our commitment to research and development in precision medicine involves bringing more personalised treatment approaches into clinical practice for the benefit of future patients, and ultimately, bringing more effective treatment options to specific patient populations. BRCA 1/2 testing in some types of prostate cancer is now publicly available in Ireland meaning licenced targeted therapies will reach the right patients at the right time.
We will continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to remove the barriers that prevent or limit access to precision medicines and diagnostics for patients. The promise of precision medicine for treating cancer and other diseases is a testament to the potential for more effective, less invasive, and patient-centred healthcare.
On November 22nd, an event titled Enabling Precision Oncology in Irish Healthcare will take place at UCD and online, sponsored by Janssen Sciences Ireland. For further details and to register for the event, visit https://poilive.ie/
References are available upon request.