Definition
Medicine targeted towards an individual or group of individuals, which uses knowledge of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors to determine suitable methods of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Use in clinical context
Many different factors can contribute to disease progression and taking these into account when determining care strategies can improve outcomes for the patient. These can include current health data, lifestyle factors or genomic information. In using this data, treatments can be tailored towards individuals moving away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. For instance, individuals with the same type of cancer may respond differently to the same treatment. By understanding factors such as the genomics of the cancers combined with other health data, treatments can be selected that are more effective and personalised to the individual.
