The United States health care system relies upon a set of protocolized standard of care (SoC) guidelines that recommend treating whole populations of patients based largely on tumor site, and in some cases, the existence of biomarkers and/or genetic mutations that may or may not be driving an individual’s cancer. For over 60 years, this reductionist approach to cancer treatment has produced outcome failure-rates of 90% (±5).<span class=”tooltip”><sup id=”3996″>1</sup></span> If SoC therapy fails, people with cancer generally undergo a series of trial-and-error treatments that often lead to toxic side effects, a diminished immune system, emotional stress, and financial hardship. Not only does this process harm patients, it creates unnecessary expense within an already cost-burdened healthcare system.
1 Letai A, Bhola P, Welm A. Functional Precision Oncology: Testing Tumors with Drugs to Identify Vulnerabilities and Novel Combinations. Cancer Cell. 2022;49(1):26-35.