Cancer treatment is not one-size-fits-all. Thanks to medical advancements, people receiving a cancer diagnosis might have many potential treatment options, ranging from established, “tried-and-true” treatments to experimental ones. But in many cases, it’s up to you, the patient, to drive conversations with your medical team about the options and determine which treatments are best for you.
Data can help. Data is behind the explosion of “precision medicine” and “personalized medicine”—and now, data can be used to identify the best treatment options for an individual.
While it can be difficult to gather this personal health data—which can be spread out across a variety of sources including difficult-to-decipher doctors’ notes and medical records—it’s worth the time and effort to land on the best treatment for you. And fortunately, new technology, such as tumor gene sequencing, electronic medical records, and mobile apps, can help you access and manage this data, enabling you to proactively participate in what used to be a closed system.
For the rest of this article, published by the World Economic Forum, please go to this link.