Proof of Concept for Personalized Medicine

Tech Review reports on a new study from the Journal of Clinical Oncology that provides a link between personalized medicine and better health outcomes. For the study, oncologist Lecia Sequist genetically screened patients' lung cancers and then administered a drug tailored for that type of tumor — and those patients did better than the average chemotherapy outcomes. In particular, the study looked at AstraZeneca's Iressa, an EGFR inhibitor. "This is a proof of concept," says Sequist. "We were trying to see if personalized medicine or genetically driven cancer therapy was feasible." AstraZeneca funded the trial.