At the threshold of personalised cancer treatment
Published by newsroom editor on Friday, 16/05/2014
New tumour profiling methods developed by EU-funded researchers aim to help doctors adjust treatments for colorectal cancer to the specific needs of an individual patient. The methods are currently at the trial stage and could be in use in clinics within three years.
Worldwide, colorectal cancer is responsible for around 694 000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. Decision making on treatment in the clinic currently depends largely on factors such as how much the tumour has grown and the age of a patient. As each patient is unique, the success of such treatments is largely unpredictable.
To replace the ‘one size fits all’ approach, the APO-DECIDE project, led by Professor Jochen Prehn at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, is developing new clinical decision-making tools to help doctors categorise patients on the basis of their individual biological and genetic characteristics.
Read More:http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/threshold-personalised-cancer-treatment