Precision Medicine for Pediatric Cancers

This article discusses the effectiveness of precision medicine for pediatric cancers and its benefits for children. It highlights the use of genomic profiling and targeted therapy in personalized treatment. The study shows that precision medicine allows for better management of patients and reduces morbidity rates. The article is related to Biology 1408.

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Precision medicine for pediatric cancers: New hope for children and adolescents
All body cells have a system which controls their growth, interaction with other cells or even
their lifespan. However, when the system loses control and the cells start growing in a manner
that cannot be regulated, then it may result into cancer (Stewart and Christopher n.p). Although
this is mostly common in adults, cases of childhood cancer have been reported to be on the rise
worldwide. According to World Health Organization (n.p), about 300,000 children aged between
0 and 19 years are diagnosed with cancer every year in the world. Cancer in children is on the
rise because it cannot be prevented or screened. However, according to World Health
Organization (n.p), 80% of children diagnosed with cancer in high-income countries are cured
while only 20% are cured in low-and-middle income countries. The recent secondary research
conducted by the University of Montreal on Precision medicine for pediatric cancer instills hope
on the effectiveness of this intervention. According to this article, the use of such therapeutic
interventions is expected to be more effective when they are used together with specific
abnormalities in the tumor cells. Therefore, the use of precision medicine for pediatric cancer is
likely to reduce the death rate of the children who are resistant to the available cancer treatment
options. This paper therefore analyzes how the precision medicine for childhood cancer will be
beneficial to the target population as well as how it relates to Biology 1408.

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Precision medicine for childhood cancer offers personalized treatment which is tailored towards
the genetic characteristics of the children diagnosed with cancer (Rajen et al. n.p). This article by
University of Montreal highlights that when diagnosing and treating of pediatric cancers,
genomic profiling helps in the proposal of treatment actions that suit the different alterations of
the children with cancer. This article which recognizes the role of TRICEPS team in Quebec in
the past five years argues that the team has managed to demonstrate the feasibility of setting up a
research program in pediatric oncology in precision medicine so as to reduce the rates of
morbidity of childhood cancer. Since the aim of precision medicine is to bring together different
teams and experts in pediatric care of cancer, it is expected that they may be able to quickly
intervene before the children dies. According to Collins and Varmus (n.p), the aim of the
precision medicine is to treat children with the drugs that target specific genetic mutations in
their tumors regardless of where the tumors are found.
This article argues that up to date, the study of the use of precision medicine for pediatric care
has enrolled 84 patients. Of the people include are children who have hematological, solid and
brain tumors. The study found out that genomic anomalies allows for better management of
patients in 87% of patients. This was achieved through better follow-up of the residual diseases,
reclassification of the disease or through the application of the targeted therapy.
The study design of this article is ideas and opinions as it involves the intention to treat analysis.
The study offers insight on a cohort study which had been previously conducted by analyzing the
randomized control trials which compared the patients in different groups (Song and Chung n.p).
The study is bias because the results of the study are one-sided and do not give further
information like the weaknesses of the precision medicine for childhood cancer.

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This study is related to biology because it discusses how genetic classification can be used to
reduce the rates of cancer morbidity among children. Genetics is a branch of biology which
studies how traits are passed from parents to children. In biology, gene is a specific sequence of
nucleotides located in the DNA or RNA present in the microsome which controls the
transmission and expressing of traits. This study therefore helps one to understand how genetic
information can be used to create a diagnosis and treatment. Although I am aware of precision
medicine for childhood cancer, the information presented in this study is new to me.
In conclusion, precision medicine for childhood cancer is expected to be highly effective in
managing cancer cases in children. Although it does not involve creating special drugs for
individuals, it helps in coming up with a better combination of different drug modalities that help
manage cancer in patients. According to this article, pediatricians’ thinking about treatments with
great advances has changed.

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Works cited
Collins, Francis S., and Harold Varmus. "A new initiative on precision medicine." New England
journal of medicine 372.9 (2015): 793-795.
Mody, Rajen J., et al. "Precision medicine in pediatric oncology: Lessons learned and next
steps." Pediatric blood & cancer 64.3 (2017): e26288.
University of Montreal. "Precision medicine for pediatric cancers: New hope for children and
adolescents." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 29 April 2019.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190429111821.htm
Song, Jae W., and Kevin C. Chung. "Observational studies: cohort and case-control
studies." Plastic and reconstructive surgery 126.6 (2010): 2234.
Stewart, B. W. K. P., and Christopher P. Wild. "World cancer report 2014." (2014). Retrieved
from http://publichealthwell.ie/search-results/world-cancer-report-2014?
source=relatedblock&content=resource&member=572160&catalogue=none&collection=Conditi
ons,Chronic%20Conditions,Cancer&tokens_complete=true
World health Organization. “Cancer in children.” (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer-in-children