Precision Oncology: Current Landscape, Emerging Trends, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Precision oncology is broadly defined as cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment specifically tailored to the patient based on his/her genetics and molecular profile. In simple terms, the goal of precision medicine is to deliver the right cancer treatment to the right patient, at the right dose, at the right time. Precision oncology is the most studied and widely applied subarea of precision medicine. Now, precision oncology has expanded to include modern technology (big data, single-cell spatial multiomics, molecular imaging, liquid biopsy, CRISPR gene editing, stem cells, organoids), a deeper understanding of cancer biology (driver cancer genes, single nucleotide polymorphism, cancer initiation, intratumor heterogeneity, tumor microenvironment ecosystem, pan-cancer), cancer stratification (subtyping of traditionally defined cancer types and pan-cancer re-classification based on shared properties across traditionally defined cancer types), clinical applications (cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, targeted therapy, minimal residual disease monitoring, managing drug resistance), lifestyle changes (physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, sunscreen), cost management, public policy, and more. Despite being the most developed area in precision medicine, precision oncology is still in its early stages and faces multiple challenges that need to be overcome for its successful implementation. In this review, we examine the history, development, and future directions of precision oncology by focusing on emerging technology, novel concepts and principles, molecular cancer stratification, and clinical applications.