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What is Precision Medicine in Breast Cancer Treatment?

September 21, 2018

Precision medicine allows doctors to treat patients based on their individual biology. Dr. Camelia Lawrence is the director of breast surgery at the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute at The Hospital of Central Connecticut and MidState Medical Center. She explains how precision medicine is used in treating breast cancer. 

Q: What is precision medicine?

A: Precision medicine really means targeted therapy for that particular patient based on the tumor biology. We now know that biology trumps size in the majority of malignancy. And breast cancer is one of those disease processes where it’s so important to understand the biology of tumors, the genetic variation and makeup of the tumor, and that helps us to provide targeted therapy. It’s in contrast to the traditional one-size-fits-all.

It’s dramatically different and it’s amazing to see how targeted, how precise this cancer treatment has become.

Q: Even with precision medicine, it’s important for patients to seek a second opinion. Tell us why.

A: I think second opinions are important because they help validate the initial opinion that you do get from your provider. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that you weren’t able to establish a rapport with your provider, but I think it’s okay to hear it from a second source, to make sure the decision that’s being made is the one that’s right for you.

Q: How precise has this kind of medicine become?

A: We look at the tumor makeup, really, and the biology, the size of the tumor. In fact, at Hartford HealthCare we have what’s called the multidisciplinary approach which consists of multiple specialists. We all come together, look at all the information from the patient, and we synthesize it together to come up with the best algorithm that’s going to be tailored for that patient.

Learn more about your breast cancer treatment options at the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute.