Precision Medicine—Are We There Yet? A Narrative Review of Precision Medicine’s Applicability in Primary Care

Evans, William; Meslin, Eric M.; Kai, Joe; Qureshi, Nadeem

Abstract

Precision medicine (PM), also termed stratified, individualised, targeted, or personalised medicine, embraces a rapidly expanding area of research, knowledge, and practice. It brings together two emerging health technologies to deliver better individualised care: the many “-omics” arising from increased capacity to understand the human genome and “big data” and data analytics, including artificial intelligence (AI). PM has the potential to transform an individual’s health, moving from population-based disease prevention to more personalised management. There is however a tension between the two, with a real risk that this will exacerbate health inequalities and divert funds and attention from basic healthcare requirements leading to worse health outcomes for many. All areas of medicine should consider how this will affect their practice, with PM now strongly encouraged and supported by government initiatives and research funding. In this review, we discuss examples of PM in current practice and its emerging applications in primary care, such as clinical prediction tools that incorporate genomic markers and pharmacogenomic testing. We look towards potential future applications and consider some key questions for PM, including evidence of its real-world impact, its affordability, the risk of exacerbating health inequalities, and the computational and storage challenges of applying PM technologies at scale.

Citation

Evans, W., Meslin, E. M., Kai, J., & Qureshi, N. (2024). Precision Medicine—Are We There Yet? A Narrative Review of Precision Medicine’s Applicability in Primary Care. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 14(4), Article 418. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm14040418

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Apr 6, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 15, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-04
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 2, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Personalized Medicine
• Electronic ISSN: 2075-4426
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 418
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm14040418
• Keywords: precision medicine; personalised medicine; primary care; genomics; pharmacogenomics; prediction modelling; artificial intelligence
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/33838759
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/4/418