treatment

In this, the last of our 4-part series of insurance-focused articles on cancer, Dr. Achim Regenauer, Chief Medical Officer, presents a high-level overview of how genomic sequencing of cancers is blasting a trail for improved, early diagnosis and precision medicine by providing a powerful and ever-expanding means to detect, identify, subdivide and monitor cancer – and how this remarkable development could impact Life & Health insurers.

Nothing attracts media attention quite like a potential cure for cancer. Researchers from Cardiff University, UK, recently published this paper detailing one possible method to beat cancer with far-reaching, all-purpose abilities. While it is currently just a laboratory experiment, the method they have outlined certainly has merit.
 

This article reviews the recent and unprecedented acceleration in the understanding of cancer pathophysiology which has led to the subsequent development of novel cancer immunotherapies. In part, this new direction in cancer treatment has been advanced by a greater understanding of individual patient genomics and has contributed to the realization of the so-called “precision medicine” era.