Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2017; 23(28): 5045-5050
Published online Jul 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i28.5045
Precision medicine: In need of guidance and surveillance
Jian-Zhen Lin, Jun-Yu Long, An-Qiang Wang, Ying Zheng, Hai-Tao Zhao
Jian-Zhen Lin, Jun-Yu Long, An-Qiang Wang, Hai-Tao Zhao, Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Ying Zheng, State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Science, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
Author contributions: Lin JZ wrote the manuscript; Long JY, Wang AQ and Zheng Y contributed to the intellectual content; Zhao HT revised and modified the manuscript.
Supported by International Science and Technology Cooperation Projects, No. 2016YFE0107100, No. 2015DFA30650 and No. 2010DFB33720; Capital Special Research Project for Health Development, No. 2014-2-4012; Capital Research Project for The Characteristics Clinical Application No. Z151100004015170; Beijing Nature Science Foundation for Young Scholars Project, No. 7164293; and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, No. NCET-11-0288.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest related to this publication and approve the final version of the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Hai-Tao Zhao, MD, PhD, Professor, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 9 Dongdansantiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100730, China. zhaoht@pumch.cn
Telephone: +86-10-69156042 Fax: +86-10-69156043
Received: March 22, 2017
Peer-review started: March 23, 2017
First decision: April 10, 2017
Revised: April 15, 2017
Accepted: June 1, 2017
Article in press: June 1, 2017
Published online: July 28, 2017
Processing time: 127 Days and 18.5 Hours
Abstract

Precision medicine, currently a hotspot in mainstream medicine, has been strongly promoted in recent years. With rapid technological development, such as next-generation sequencing, and fierce competition in molecular targeted drug exploitation, precision medicine represents an advance in science and technology; it also fulfills needs in public health care. The clinical translation and application of precision medicine - especially in the prevention and treatment of tumors - is far from satisfactory; however, the aims of precision medicine deserve approval. Thus, this medical approach is currently in its infancy; it has promising prospects, but it needs to overcome numbers of problems and deficiencies. It is expected that in addition to conventional symptoms and signs, precision medicine will define disease in terms of the underlying molecular characteristics and other environmental susceptibility factors. Those expectations should be realized by constructing a novel data network, integrating clinical data from individual patients and personal genomic background with existing research on the molecular makeup of diseases. In addition, multi-omics analysis and multi-discipline collaboration will become crucial elements in precision medicine. Precision medicine deserves strong support, and its development demands directed momentum. We propose three kinds of impetus (research, application and collaboration impetus) for such directed momentum toward promoting precision medicine and accelerating its clinical translation and application.

Keywords: Precision medicine; Clinical translation; Development; Targeted therapy; Immunotherapy

Core tip: Precision medicine aims toward accurate, efficient and effective diagnostic testing and precise treatment. Emerging techniques and therapeutic drugs based on molecular profiling and genomic characteristics will help achieve that goal. Next-generation sequencing is the most frequently used methodology for precision medicine applications; however, proteomics and metabolomics tests are growing in accuracy and ease of use. In terms of applications and outcomes, the benefits conferred by precision medicine are currently insufficient. Present development of precision medicine lacks order. Therefore, precision medicine needs strong support to develop, and a directed momentum is required. We suggest three kinds of impetus (research, application and collaboration impetus) for such directed momentum toward promoting precision medicine and accelerating its clinical translation and application.