Even as genetic-sequencing technology becomes cheaper and faster, the adoption of precision medicine, which decodes a patient's DNA to treat them in a more personalised, targeted way, remains limited in India. What will it take to turn it into an everyday reality?
Scientists working on genome sequencing at the MedGenome lab in Bengaluru
Image: Himadri Sharma for Forbes India
By the time Devina Bose, 65, noticed a lump in her breast, the tumour had advanced to stage four. Tests revealed that the cancerous cells were hormone receptor positive, which means they needed estrogen and progesterone to grow and spread, but HER2 negative, referring to a growth-promoting protein found on breast cells.
She was immediately put on hormone therapy drugs to lower her female hormone levels and make them less available to the growing cancer cells. Bose, a high court judge whose name has been changed, responded well to the treatment, says Dr Pramod Kumar Julka, director of oncology at Max Hospital in Delhi and former dean of AIIMS.
“ You can monitor data from smart devices and implants. We’re getting closer and closer to the human body to unlock real-time information.”
Dr Eng Lim Goh, Chief Technology Officer for Artificial Intelligence, Hewlett Packard Enterprise