Personalized Medicine - Your DNA is the Guide

You get sick. You probably go to the doctor and have a test or two after describing your symptoms. Then, there’s likely a diagnosis and possibly some medicine prescribed. If a person around your age walked in right after you with the same symptoms and test findings, he or she would probably receive the same treatment.

We are all unique, and each of us may react to medicine differently, or our actual disease conditions may be different. So why is medicine one-size-fits-all? It won’t always be. Northwell Health is working to make it much more personal. Personalized medicine (you may hear it called precision medicine or genomic medicine) is tailored to a person’s exact genetic makeup, and in the case of cancer, or the genetic profile of an individual’s tumor.

Hospitals and health systems across the country are doing extensive research to determine the efficacy and utility of the scientific technologies used in personalized medicine. For example, Northwell Health has partnered with the multinational pharmaceutical and diagnostics company OPKO. Its GeneDx and GenPath divisions will be the main health system laboratories for genomic testing for our patients. Such testing determines the status and interaction of certain genes in your body, including their role in certain diseases. These conditions range from inherited ones such as cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs disease, to cancer and genetic risk for cancer.

Your DNA tells a story, and one of the goals of of this partnership is to conduct research to determine how personalized medicine can revolutionize screening and treatment for many diseases.

“Northwell Health is racing toward the future as fast as possible,” said Dr. James Crawford, executive director of laboratory services for the health system. Dr. Crawford added that personalized medicine can provide patients greater access to potentially lifesaving tests and that knowing when to do the testing is key.

Personalized medicine includes:

• Evaluations of those with a family history of cancer
• Cancer patient testing for sensitivity to specific drug therapies
• Noninvasive prenatal screenings
• Pediatric and postnatal diagnosis
• Screening for genetic cardiac abnormalities
• Testing for neurological disorders, such as Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, which can run in families

Understanding how genetics and genomics affect our health and our responses to medications is crucial to providing better health care. Studies will help doctors offer more accurate diagnoses, safer drug prescriptions, more effective treatments and better prevention for many diseases.