Bernardo Cordovez, Founder, CEO at Kernis Health, shared on LinkedIn:
“The goal of precision oncology is not simply to better understand your cancer. It’s to use that information to develop treatment options tailored to your unique biology and disease. This is the final layer.
In my previous posts, I covered the foundational steps to give yourself more options throughout a personalized oncology journey, from obtaining your pathology records and tissue assets to preserving viable tissue for future opportunities. Those earlier layers make this one possible.
Personalized therapeutics. This is where everything from the previous layers comes together.
DNA and RNA sequencing, proteomics, immunopeptidomics, functional testing, etc. provide a different perspective on your cancer. Together, they can help identify mutations, proteins, neoantigens, biological pathways, cellular states, and immune targets to guide personalized treatment options.
Personalized therapies include:
- investigational personalized mRNA vaccines,
- peptide vaccines,
- dendritic cell vaccines,
- oncolytic viruses,
- custom antibody therapies,
- tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies,
- custom CAR-Ts, TCR therapies,
- single-patient IND cell therapies
There are a growing number of clinical trials evaluating these personalized therapies, often providing treatments at no cost to participants.
The biggest challenge is qualifying for the right trial.
These studies have specific scientific goals, eligibility criteria, and locations, often serving a narrow group of patients.
Personalized therapies are also available outside clinical trials. Several pioneering academic centers, nonprofit foundations, and biotechnology companies are developing and commercializing personalized treatments. But these can be expensive, largely reflecting of the complexity and costs of manufacturing novel therapies for a single patient.
Key: Personalized therapies are often one of the last steps in a personalized oncology journey. Most patients can extract enormous value from the earlier layers before they need to consider them. Many personalized therapies require tissue to have been collected, preserved, and processed in specific ways, often months before treatment is considered. Decisions made before or during surgery can determine which options remain available later, and that is why planning ahead matters.
Final Thoughts:
As William Gibson said, ‘The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.’
Patients have always been the driving force behind progress in cancer care. With intelligence now available on demand, combined with the rapid development of these biotechnologies, that force is being amplified in unprecedented ways. I believe that’s a good thing.”
Marybeth Gilliam, Founder of Outperform Cancer, shared Bernardo Cordovez‘ post, adding:
“This is an excellent graphic to help patients understand their care opportunities.”
Other articles about Precision Oncology on OncoDaily.