Personalized medicine: An alternative for cancer treatment

The incidence of cancer continues to increase worldwide, resulting in significant physical, emotional, and financial challenges for individuals, families, communities, and healthcare systems. Cancer is projected to be responsible for approximately 10 million deaths in 2020, accounting for one in six deaths globally. Prostate, colon, lung, and breast cancers are the most common types of cancer. In India, it is estimated that there will be around 2.7 million cancer patients by 2020. Personalized medicine has the potential to offer an alternative approach to cancer treatment. Precision medicine, often known as personalized medicine, is a new cancer treatment technique that focuses on tailoring medication to each patient's specific genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors. The goal is to optimize tumor response while minimizing therapy side effects, resulting in improved patient care and quality of life. Personalized medicine allows for the creation of focused medicines that address specific gene mutations by leveraging knowledge about a patient's cancer, including its genetic makeup. Ongoing research seeks to detect gene modifications in diverse cancer types, produce novel diagnostic tools, and develop treatments that particularly target these genetic changes. In recent years, personalized medicine has achieved major advances in the treatment of solid tumors, with the promise to improve treatment precision, reduce side effects, as well as enhance outcomes for patients in cancer therapy. This review aims to objectively evaluate the transformation of cancer treatment, emphasizing the shift towards a more precise methodology.