Rome, April 27 (beraking latest news Salute) – Taking charge of the person, information and sharing of therapeutic choices, access to genomic profiling and target therapies, use of data to improve research while respecting privacy. These are the cornerstones on which it is possible to build personalized medicine in oncology collected in the recommendations, drawn up by the APMP patient network which brings together 11 associations engaged in the fight against cancer. On average, in 75% of people with cancer – the associations report – traditional therapies do not work. A figure that highlights the need to move from an approach based on the ‘drug for all’ to a targeted treatment, the result of a weighted choice based on the genetic profile and characteristics of the individual.
The recommendations are contained in the first ‘White Book of personalized medicine in oncology’, a volume that collects the voice of the institutions and the contributions of some of the most authoritative experts – oncologists, geneticists, pathologists, pharmacoeconomists, sociologists and psychologists – on the subject of precision oncology. A work born from the need to shed light on the opportunities and challenges that personalized medicine poses to the healthcare system and to all patients. The first important step in the path to support the right to personalized medicine in Italy, which is part of the broader information and awareness project ‘Every story is unique’, created with the unconditional support of Roche Italia.
An idea of the Apmp group that sees in this innovative therapeutic approach the opportunity of a cultural revolution, even before being clinical, where the person is no longer at the center but is himself the center. The key to a new era of personalized medicine built together, in an integrated health system that sees doctors, health professionals, patients, associations, caregivers, institutions and stakeholders all in synergy. A change that represents an opportunity for millions of people.
“Today is a moment of scientific and institutional meeting and comparison necessary to reaffirm the universal right of each individual to receive the best treatment”, says Nicoletta Cerana, president of the Alliance Against Ovarian Cancer Onlus (Acto) and spokesperson for the APMP. “It is necessary – he continues – to act to guarantee uniform access in the territory to genomic profiling tests to fill current discrepancies, as well as to promote the implementation of diagnostic therapeutic assistance paths (Pdta) and correct information that generates awareness and supports decision-making processes “.
“The collection, interpretation and management of specific information for each patient – explains Paolo Marchetti, director of medical oncology at the Sapienza University of Rome and National President of the Foundation for personalized medicine (FMP) – allows an accurate diagnosis in the shortest possible time. and a treatment tailored to the individual, increasing the effectiveness of the treatment and improving the quality of life. An opportunity for the patient and for the health system “.
Genomic testing is required to identify patients who may benefit from specific treatments. A possibility that, in order to be provided to all patients, must be included in a new organizational model, which has not yet been fully implemented. In this sense, “it is fundamental – explains Nello Martini, president of the Research and Health Foundation, former Aifa director – to move to a new model of health organization, the mutational one. It would be desirable to establish a national interconnected network of Molecular tumor board (Mtb ) and of the regional specialized centers for the execution of genomic profiling tests (Ngs). The Observatory on clinical trials (Osc) – he continues – should be opened by Aifa to MTBs in order to promptly insert patients in the trials and begin what specific treatments first “.
In the light of pharmacoeconomic studies and cost-effectiveness analyzes, it has been shown that the choice of personalized medicine can also generate advantages in terms of system sustainability. “Looking to the future of health and the importance of concretely putting the patient at the center, with his needs, in a context characterized by an increase in life expectancy, limited resources and further aggravated by the current pandemic emergency, today more than ever a priority to guarantee real equity of access to therapeutic and diagnostic innovation, with a focus on sustainability “, explains Maurizio de Cicco, President and CEO of Roche Italia.
“Aware that this goal can only be achieved thanks to close collaboration on the part of all the players in the system, we renew our commitment to propose ourselves as partners alongside the scientific community, patients and institutions that we thank for having collected, with this initiative, the challenge of implementing joint actions so that – he continues – what seemed a distant future until a few decades ago, the goal of a personalized medicine that promotes diagnosis and treatment paths based on the characteristics and needs of each one, can become a reality and a right for the largest number of patients, in the shortest possible time “.