A comprehensive explanation of precision medicine

Precision medicine is the application of modern genetic technology, molecular imaging technology, bioinformatics and other technologies, combined with the patient’s living environment and clinical data, to achieve accurate disease classification, diagnosis and assessment, the development of targeted disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of the entire process of medical services, in order to minimize the medical source of damage, minimize medical consumption, to obtain the best recovery of patients. Precision medicine is not the same as Obama-style “precision medicine” On January 20, 2015, Obama proposed the “Precision Medicine” plan in his State of the Union address, calling for the United States to increase medical funding and promote individualized genomic research. In his State of the Union address on January 20, 2015, Obama proposed the “Precision Medicine” program, calling on the United States to increase funding for medical research, promote individualized genomic research, and develop individual medical plans for cancer and other diseases based on personal genetic information. “Precision medicine” is actually a kind of precise targeted therapy, which includes molecular targeting, physical targeting and biological targeting. The “precision medicine” referred to by OMB mainly focuses on molecular targeted therapy, emphasizing genomics and proteomics, which exist mostly at the molecular level, with major diseases such as cancer as the main target. Physical targeting: Physical ablation therapy, radioactive particle implantation, chemotherapeutic particle implantation and other local treatment methods can be performed under the guidance of the image according to the treatment plan in the lesion area shown by CT, MRI and resonance. Biological targeting: With the assistance of isotope, it can show the extent of tumor tissue invasion more accurately, such as PET, SPECT, etc. Generally, the biological targeting is more accurate than physical targeting by about o.5 cm. (Example: There will be tumor tissue within the physical targeting, but within 1 cm beyond the physical targeting, it is likely that there are still tumor cells infiltrating, but the physical targeting cannot show it clearly.) Molecular targeting: Based on the interaction between drugs and substances in the living body at the molecular level, the drugs currently used in cellular targeting and subcellular targeting are basically molecular targeting drugs. At the level of cellular molecules, the corresponding therapeutic drugs are designed to target a defined oncogenic site (the site can be a protein molecule or a gene fragment inside the tumor cell), and the drugs will specifically select the oncogenic site to combine with it to cause the specific death of tumor cells without affecting the normal tissue cells around the tumor. In fact, precision medicine integrates many advanced medical elements such as genomic medicine, targeted therapy, evidence-based medicine, data-based medicine, integrated medicine, “4P” medical model, etc. It is a combination of modern technology and traditional medical methods, scientific cognition of human body functions and disease nature, and the most effective, safest and most economical medical services. It is a new type of medicine that maximizes the health benefits of individuals and society. Modern technology is not limited to the molecular level, but also includes other technologies and traditional medicine, and places equal importance on the effectiveness, safety, economy, individual and social benefits. Precision medicine is not “individualized medicine”. Individualized medicine emphasizes the adoption of unique treatment plans for different patients, or for different stages of the same patient, based on individual differences. Precision medicine is a standardized and individualized medical model that adjusts medical treatment according to the characteristics of each patient. However, it does not mean producing unique drugs or medical devices for each patient, but rather the ability to classify patients into different subgroups according to their different susceptibilities to specific diseases, the biological basis and prognosis of the diseases they suffer from, and their different responses to a specific treatment, and to use the common patterns of diseases to treat them with further precision to the subtypes of diseases. Precision medicine will also promote the progress and development of medical research by establishing a new big data network to combine medical research with clinical data at the level of patient care. Precision medicine can not only improve the level of disease diagnosis and treatment, benefit people’s livelihood and national health, but also develop the frontier of medical science and technology, enhance international competitiveness, enter the reform of medical system, form a new growth point of economy, drive the development of big health industry, and maximize the health of all people in the most effective, safest and most economical way.