#TBT: Moonshot to Cure Cancer & the Importance of Individual Treatment Effects

As part of our Throwback Thursday blog series, we’re taking a look at an issue currently in the news and tagging it with previous research, videos or commentaries in a relevant way. As the saying goes, “what’s old is new again” – and we hope you enjoy our wonky twist on #TBT.

As part of our Throwback Thursday blog series, we’re taking a look at an issue currently in the news and tagging it with previous research, videos or commentaries in a relevant way. As the saying goes, “what’s old is new again” – and we hope you enjoy our wonky twist on #TBT.

When President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address earlier this week, he spoke about the need for personalized medical treatments and funding for medical research to find innovative new treatments for cancer, once again highlighting the importance of moving away from a “one size fits all approach.” From reducing side effects and long-term, avoidable costs to better tailoring treatments to effectively target specific subpopulations—continued progress in both of these areas could add enormous value for patients and the entire health care system.

The National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) has long focused on the importance of recognizing individual treatment effects and ensuring that patients have access to the right treatment at the right time. Each person may respond differently to a treatment because he or she is unique thanks to a multitude of factors (e.g., racial and ethnic background, age, gender, genetics, multiple chronic conditions, disease severity, environment).

In 2012, NPC hosted a conference on this topic, “The Myth of Average: Why Individual Patient Differences Matter,” and spoke with Dr. Ellen Sigal, chairperson and founder of Friends of Cancer Research, in a video interview (and our Throwback Thursday pick of the week) about cancer and the importance of individual treatment effects.

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Dr. Sigal explains why considering biologic, and even nonbiologic, factors is important, especially for cancer patients. She says cancer patients need access to “the best and most effective treatment the first time. “They don’t want to have to fail two, three or four treatments.”

The good news is that we are living in one of the great moments in history with regard to the treatment and curing of disease. New, more effective, and individualized treatments are fundamentally changing and improving our ability to manage—and even cure—once untreatable conditions. Conditions like HIV and AIDS have been transformed from life-ending illnesses to chronic, manageable conditions; hepatitis C is now curable and over time will save our health care system millions by eliminating significant negative downstream health effects; and we are making more and more progress in defeating cancer every year.

If we are going to succeed in the new "moonshot" to cure cancer, policymakers and all stakeholders will need to keep the importance of innovation and the individual front and center.