Precision medicine as a way to improve oncology care — and potentially drive down drug costs

Broadly defined, precision medicine is about the personalization of care. Yet on a practical level, precision medicine can take on different forms in different subspecialties in healthcare. In modern oncology care, it’s largely about getting the right drugs to the right patient at the right time.

There’s also some early evidence that more efficient targeted medication therapies can help to drive down pharmaceutical costs, in addition to the ever-important mission of improving patient care.

Dr. Michael Thompson, co-director of Aurora Oncology Group, precision medicine in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said oncology drugs in particular require close maintenance. Now,...