What is Personalized Medicine?

Cancer is not one disease. Rather, there are many kinds of cancer.1 That's why a more personalized approach to treatment may be helpful.

Personalized medicine uses information about a person's genes and proteins to prevent, diagnose and treat disease.2

What is Bio-Specific Medicine?

Bio-specific medicine is an important part of the future of cancer care. It involves testing your tumor to find out if it has what are called biomarkers. The information in these biomarkers may help the doctor know if a treatment may be more or less likely to work for you, or monitor for any risk of the cancer coming back.3

References:
  1. American Cancer Society. What is Cancer? Available at http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancerbasics/what-is-cancer. Accessed April 14, 2011.
  2. National Cancer Institute. Dictionary of Cancer Terms: Personalized Medicine. Available at http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary?CdrID=561717. Accessed April 1, 2011.
  3. National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Biomarkers and Targeted Therapy. Available at http://www.nccn.com/component/content/article/56-screening/927-biomarkers-and-targeted-therapy.html. Accessed April 1, 2011.

See more about biomarkers and how they are used in cancer treatment.

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Download a Fact Sheet with information on bio-specific medicine and biomarkers.*

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Download a Glossary of Terms to learn the language of cancer.*

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* This document is in PDF (portable document format). PDF files require Adobe® Reader®; click here.

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