Personalized medicine – a key to heal the cancer?
Date: 10.5.2013
Personalized medicine more and more often means not only individual approach of physicians. It is more than deep knowledge of case history and the treatment received by patients so far. Personalized medicine is a key to understand the illness not in only in perspective of human race, but in elementary view of every human being. This key information lies in DNA and opens wide path to heal terminal diseases.
After 60 years of discovering DNA, genes deliver new ways for combating with cancer, not general, but individual. Thanks to information in chromosomes, method of healing is adapted to every patient and his set of genes. Different therapy could be used in case of patient susceptible to disease and another for patient with acquired illness because of risk or environmental factors. That new dependence sets fresh view on therapy and gives new hopes for terminal illnesses including cancer patients.
Nowadays we enter the era of targeted cancer therapies. These are drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules involved in tumor growth and progression. Many of these therapies focus on proteins that are involved in cell signaling pathways, which form a complex communication system that governs basic cellular functions and activities and even cell death (apoptosis).
There is around 10 investigated mechanisms of action for targeted cancer therapies. The drugs can block specific enzymes and growth factor receptors involved in cancer cell proliferation, modify the function of proteins that regulate gene expression and other cellular functions, induce cancer cells to undergo apoptosis or block the growth of blood vessels to tumors (angiogenesis). Those targeted therapies are led by small-molecule drugs (able to diffuse into cells). Another class of targeted therapies includes monoclonal antibodies that deliver toxic molecules to cancer cells specifically but cannot penetrate the cell’s membrane.
The number of such breakthrough discoveries grows yearly. Pharmaceutical market invest billions of dollars to investigate new delivery pathways. The problem is different: how to link the mechanism of action with the specific patient that will react to that cure. The questions how to successfully integrate molecular diagnostic tools into drug discovery and if it is possible to face the distance from target to market in 2-3 years will be answered on the panel session pending BioForum 2013, which is taking place in Budapest (Hungary) on 22-23rd May, 2013 entitled Personalised Medicine – Opportunities for successful and affordable anti-cancer drugs and diagnostics in the personalized genomics era. Istvan Petak, Ph. D., from KPS Diagnostics Ltd. is going to present all aspects of temporary cancer treatment by means of gene therapy, based on his own research. He will indicate challenges for next years too, as well as barriers in development of this revolutionizing method of healing of many civilization disease.
Panel is scheduled on 23rd May, 2013, at 10:50 in Corinthia Hotel in Budapest.
ABOUT BIOFORUM 2013
Bioforum 2013 is the 12th edition of the event aiming to create an effective market for biotechnology services and R&D partnerships within the Central and Eastern Europe region. Since 2002 we try to offer the best conditions for companies from CEE region to meet, discuss and find partners for realization their plan for development and progress. During the BioForum event, companies are able to communicate with investors and scientists from the CEE region, where everyone can offer equal terms for partnership. So far, the established partnerships have quickly translated into economic benefits.
The mission of BioForum is to create optimal conditions for the development of innovative companies in the CEE bioindustry. Growth of innovative companies will allow for the retention of our biggest resource – the talented and skilled graduates of the region’s academia. We will be able to benefit this talent in the best way by creating an ample and adequate labour market.
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CONTACT FOR PRESS:
Tomasz Jachimek
PR Specialist
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