Personalized medicine

Personalized medicine tailors prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to individual characteristics, including genetic variation, environment, and clinical history.

Pharmacogenomics: The study of how genetic variation influences responses to medicines. Genetic differences can guide drug selection and dosing.
Biomarker: A measurable characteristic that indicates a biological state or process. Biomarkers provide measurable signals for tailoring care.
Genomics: The study of an organism's complete set of DNA and how its components interact. Genomic information is a central source of individual biological differences.
Precision medicine: An approach that classifies people into groups using biological and clinical differences to guide care. The terms overlap, but precision medicine emphasizes useful patient subgroups rather than uniqueness alone.
Oncology: The branch of medicine concerned with cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Tumor profiling can match cancer treatments to a patient's cancer.
Genetic testing: Analysis of DNA, chromosomes, or genes to identify genetic variation or disease-related changes. It reveals inherited or acquired variants relevant to diagnosis and treatment.
Epigenetics: The study of changes in gene activity that do not alter the DNA sequence. Epigenetic differences can connect exposures and cell state to health.
Population medicine: An approach that improves health outcomes across defined populations through prevention and care strategies. It targets group-level outcomes, whereas personalized medicine adapts decisions to individual characteristics.
Companion diagnostic: A test used to identify patients likely to benefit from a particular medicine or avoid its risks. These tests connect a biomarker result to a specific treatment decision.
Next-generation sequencing: A set of technologies that sequence millions of DNA fragments in parallel. It makes broad genomic profiling practical in clinical settings.

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