[/caption]A recent article found on HealthDay.com discusses how screening of an individuals genome can help to better treat cancer patients. The article discusses a specific case - a woman with leukemia. Cytotechnology and oncology opinions differ on the type of cancer (and type of treatment) needed to successfully treat the woman. The treatment is either a common treatment with a successful outlook or a risky treatment that sometimes leads to death. The patient's doctor referred her to a study in which the patient's genome is scanned and chromosomal abnormalities are discovered which lead to successful treatment and cancer remission. The genome scan saved the patient from undergoing risky treatment and helped the doctors make a definitive decision in successful treatment as opposed to what could have been an educated guess in treatment without the scan.
Genome scans like the one utilized in the above-mentioned case could help to prevent misdiagnoses thus providing better treatment for cancer patients.
It's great that they can scan someone's genome and be able to make a proper decision to what treatment to use. If more doctors used this process, then more lives could be saved because the most effective treatment can be used to kill the cancerous cells. Hopefully they will one day be able to do this with all types of cancers and/or diseases and save a lot more lives.
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