Personalized medicine is not just about what medication to choose, but also about how a medication is given to an individual patient. One important concept is “the right dose,” a personalized dose of medication adjusted according to the specific patient’s characteristics.
Currently, oncologists use either a flat dose (all patients receive the same dose) or a dose based on body surface-area for some cancer drugs like chemotherapies. However, studies have shown that using these approaches leaves some people underdosed and others overdosed, and this can lead to less effective treatment, drug resistance and increased side effects.
Giving the right dose–a personalized dose of medication–is important for maximizing effectiveness and minimizing toxicities.
Read the following articles to understand more about the “right dose” and how patients can get involved in advocating for their own “right dose.”
- Right Patient, Right Drug, Wrong Dose? Cancerworld.net provides in-depth discussion and scientific evidence about why the right dose is important and how it can be determined.
- Understanding Pharmacogenomics Cancer.net discusses how Pharmacogenomics can be helpful to find the right dose.
- Drug Dosing Off Autopilot Cancer Today presents the concerns of MBC patients and breast cancer oncologists about the current methods used to determine drug doses.
- Patient-Centered Dosing Read or watch the presentation from advocate Anne Loeser and oncologist Dr. Aditya Bardia about how current oncology drug doses are determined, and why it’s important to use patient-centered dosing.
- Whatever Happened to the Minimum Effective Dose? Cancerworld.net discusses barriers to conducting clinical trials that could help define the right dose for each patient.
- The Right Dose: Researching Cancer Treatment De-Escalation This AACR report discusses reducing unnecessary chemotherapy and other treatments for people with cancer.
- TheRightDose.org This nonprofit organization advocates Patient-Centered Dosing to help MBC patients achieve a better quality of life.
- The Patient-Centered Dosing Initiative (PCDI) You can help physicians and stage IV breast cancer patients determine the optimal dosage by participating in this survey organized by TheRightDose.org.
