Personalized medicine in oncology: advancements, difficulties, and prospects

Divyansh Bansal*, Keshav Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Ritesh Raj, Dhanraj Patidar

Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, J. S. University, Shikohabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Refer this article

Divyansh Bansal, Keshav Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Ritesh Raj, Dhanraj Patidar, Personalized medicine in oncology: advancements, difficulties, and prospects. July-August 2025, V3 – I4, Pages - 11 – 21. Doi: https://doi.org/10.55522/ijti.v3i4.0121.

ABSTRACT

Precision medicine, also called personalized medicine, is broadly defined as treating patients based on characteristics that distinguish them from other individuals with the same disease. The factors that contribute to the uniqueness of a patient and his or her cancer include, but are not limited to, the person’s and tumor’s genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, microbiome, metabolome, the immune characteristics of the person and of cancer, disease presentation, gender, ancestry, exposures, lifestyle, and comorbidities. Currently, genomics is the predominant factor influencing precision medicine, but as we learn more about the additional factors, such as epigenomics, proteogenomic, metabolomics and tumor immune characteristics, we have begun to integrate this knowledge to further refine the personalized approach to cancer treatment. Although genomic and epigenomic profiling of a patient and of his or her tumor is becoming a routine in the clinic. There is a lot of excitement about the idea of "individualized" medicine. The concept of personalized medicine stems from the idea that since each person has distinct and varied traits at the molecular, physiological, behavioral, and environmental exposure levels, they may require interventions for diseases that are specific to these traits. New technologies like wireless health monitoring devices, imaging procedures, proteomics, and DNA sequencing have shown significant inter-individual diversity in disease processes, which has partially confirmed this idea. This review takes into account the reasons behind personalised medicine, its historical forerunners, the new technologies that are making it possible, some recent experiences, including both successes and failures, methods for screening and implementing personalised medications, and future directions, such as possible approaches to treating people with sterility and fertility problems. We also take into account personalised medicine's present shortcomings. Ultimately, we contend that because biological facts underlie some parts of personalised medicine, personalised medical practices in some contexts are probably inevitable, particularly if pertinent tests and deployment tactics grow more effective and economical. If applied properly, precision medicine could help solve the issues of cancer health inequities and transform the way that cancer is treated.

Keywords:

Precision medicine, personalized medicine, cancer, cancer treatment, genomics.