9 nuevos avances en la lucha contra el cáncer
El pinchazo de 7 minutos para tratar el cáncer · Oncología de precisión · La inteligencia artificial combate el cáncer · Mayor capacidad de ...
biopsias líquidas
Las biopsias son la principal forma que tienen los médicos de diagnosticar el cáncer, pero el proceso es invasivo e implica extraer una porción de tejido del cuerpo, a veces quirúrgicamente, para examinarla en un laboratorio. Las <anchor>biopsias líquidas</anchor> son una solución más sencilla y menos invasiva que permite analizar muestras de sangre para detectar signos de cáncer. Las biopsias sintéticas son otra innovación para revelar a las células cancerosas durante las primeras fases de la enfermedad.
This new way of understanding disease is changing medicine | World Economic Forum
# This new way of understanding disease is changing medicine

Jan 24, 2019

An employee conducts tests at a laboratory in a pharmaceutical manufacturing factory in Singapore April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su - RC1AEEAC1AA0

Medical science is increasingly looking at diseases at a molecular level.Image: REUTERS/Edgar Su

##### Belen Garijo

Chair of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer,Merck

##### Share:

##### Stay up to date:

#### Healthcare Delivery

Follow

A new understanding of disease biology is emerging. In a paradigm shift towards what is known as molecular pathology, medical science is increasingly looking at diseases at a molecular level.

This new perspective gets us away from the simple categories of the past into which we lumped together all lung cancers, for example, or all skin cancers.

Essentially, this approach seeks to explain the molecular aberrations that are driving cancer, such as somatic changes in the genetic code that send certain signalling pathways into overdrive and ultimately result in the formation of cancer.

Looking behind the molecular curtain, so to speak, fosters the parallel trend toward precision medicine, in which medical treatment is tailored to the individual patient, making possible higher treatment response rates than the conventional approach.

Liquid biopsies

But the revolution does not end here. Advancements in our molecular understanding of disease biology coincide with substantial progress in how diagnoses are made in the clinic and how much of a burden they mean for patients.

For example, if you’ve ever had a condition that required a biopsy, you may remember the biopsy better than the condition. Because the removal of a small amount of solid tissue for examination can by itself require surgery.

So, where a conventional biopsy can be complicated and invasive, making it a tough way of checking how a disease is progressing; a liquid biopsy, usually blood, is relatively easy. This lets medical personnel pin down the disease subtype, identify the appropriate treatment and closely track patient response, adjusting course, if necessary, as each case requires – precision medicine in action.

Of course, for a liquid biopsy to yield relevant information, the liquid has to contain biomarkers: something linked to the patient’s condition. But it doesn’t even have to be blood; molecular biomarkers can often even be found in urine.

Non-small cell lung cancer

To take one example, in the case of so-called non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which according to the American Cancer Society is what up to 90% of lung cancers are, a mutation in DNA is one biomarker found in blood.

The full potential of this is still some time away from making itself felt, but we’re very interested in finding ways to treat NSCLC. And the use of molecular pathology and liquid biopsies is speeding up the process by making it possible for us to accelerate enrollment in the clinical trials that are a necessary part of drug development.

Not only are the liquid biopsies using a simple blood sample faster, but they also let us hone in on the most appropriate cohort of patients, making the eventual outcome of the trial more meaningful.

     

Lupus nephritis

Lupus nephritis (LN) is another condition where thinking in terms of disease biology and molecular pathology is helping us make headway in our efforts to find new treatment options. In LN, the body essentially attacks its own kidneys.

Previously, LN patients’ blood offered clues about their condition. More recently, however, thanks to bioinformatics, where biology meets statistics and computer science, a potentially better biomarker, one that may even predict flare-ups of the disease, has been identified in patients’ urine. If confirmed, this would be a very useful addition to the precision medicine toolkit.

Potential for quantum leaps

Molecular pathology is still a fairly new trend, but it holds out considerable hope and has medical scientists justifiably excited about the potential for quantum leaps forward in disease treatment.

We’re proud to be pushing the envelope in terms of making the most of what molecular pathology and precision medicine have to offer us as a company dedicated to coming up with innovative treatment options for patients. We’ve embraced the new paradigm across our entire pipeline.

##### Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

##### Share:

Global Agenda

## The AgendaWeekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails.For more details, review our privacy policy.

### More onHealth and Healthcare Systems      See all



Joe Myers

September 13, 2024



Nikolaj Gilbert

September 12, 2024



Andy Moose, Kana Enomoto and Harris Eyre

September 9, 2024



Shyam Bishen and Oliver Eitelwein

September 3, 2024



Michael Purton

September 2, 2024

About Us

Events

Media

More from the Forum

Partners & Members

Language Editions

© 2024World Economic Forum