How do you Personalize Cancer Treatments

Our main aim, when we’re dealing with patients who have cancer and helping them, is to be able to personalize their treatment.

We personalize their treatment based on patient factors, their family, their caregivers, their social support, their medical health status, and more and more so we’re personalizing their treatment based on the specific type of cancer that they have.

And by understanding the specific type of cancer that we’re dealing with, and specifically understanding the genes that are making up those cancers, or driving that cancer, we can come up with a more personalized approach for that individual patient.

And it also is very helpful that we base our decision on what type of tumor the patient has, what type of drivers the patient has, and what is the stage of the tumor – that is, how far along this tumor has spread.

So understanding those factors, which are related to tumor, understanding the factors which are related to the patient and their needs, will help us better understand what is the right treatment for that patient.

So we really encourage our patients to consider and educate themselves about the different treatments options, and discuss with their specialist as to what is the right treatment for their disease.

Presenter: Dr. Sunil Verma, Oncologist, Calgary, AB

Local Practitioners: Oncologist