A recent CardioSource WorldNews (CSWN) cover story looked at personalized medicine and raised the question of where we’re headed. Personalized medicine, as defined by the Personalized Medicine Coalition, refers to “the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient…to classify individuals into subpopulations that differ in their susceptibility to a particular disease or their response to a specific treatment.”

Personalized medicine is a relatively new term, but at this point there are endless possibilities in its implementation. According to National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute, personalized medicine “has the potential to transform healthcare through earlier diagnosis, more effective prevention and treatment of disease, and avoidance of drug side effects.”

In the article, Chris Cannon, MD, FACC, editor-in-chief of CSWN, talks about how he envisions the future of personalized medicine saying how “unexpected drug-drug interactions will be minimalized, patients will receive better and more coordinated care, and healthcare costs will plummet.”

Along the lines of new technology and methods, Eric Topol, MD, FACC, explains that he “envisions people with hypertension continually monitoring and tracking their blood pressure though a nonintrusive wristband that sends readings directly to a smartphone.”

As technology and science continue to evolve, there’s really no limit to the impact technology will have on personalized medicine.

However, the field of cardiology may take time to adopt.  This past winter, ACC’s CardioSurve panel was asked several questions on the topic of personalized medicine in order to explore perceptions and its future. The research asked cardiologists to first define “personalized medicine.” Nearly three out of four (72 percent) cardiologists cited genetic testing as the key defining attribute while approximately half (53 percent) of the panel responded with molecular diagnostics.

In addition, the results showed that the light usage, or lack thereof, is largely due to the fact that the majority of cardiologists do not feel that personalized medicine is impacting the treatment of their patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. The primary instigator of the short-term skepticism is that 75 percent of these cardiologists believe that there is a lack of patient outcome data in regards to the implementation of personalized medicine technologies.

While I do agree that applications of genetics in cardiovascular disease to personalize the approach to treatment may take time as it has to be value and outcome driven, we do not have to wait to have a personalized approach to patient care. With my presidential year focused on patient-centered care, the College is working towards these steps as a model for care. Our CardioSmart patient initiative is already geared to empower health care professionals and patients to partner effectively to achieve better cardiovascular outcomes. This initiative brings about new tools and technologies. The College is also taking the steps towards a more comprehensive digital strategy (read more in a blog post here). It’s quite an exciting time as modern medicine continues to evolve.

What is your opinion of personalized medicine and where it is headed? Leave your comments below.

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