Cadernos de saúde pública
-
Cadernos de saúde pública · Mar 2019
ReviewPrecision medicine/personalized medicine: a critical analysis of movements in the transformation of biomedicine in the early 21st century.
The enormous development of genomics research in recent decades has raised great expectations concerning its impact on biomedicine. There has been growing investment in research in personalized or precision medicine, which aims to customize medical practice with a focus on the individual, based on the use of genetic tests, identification of biomarkers, and development of targeted drugs. However, the personalized or precision medicine movement is controversial and has sparked an important debate between its defenders and critics. ⋯ Personalized or precision medicine is expected to generate incremental developments in specific areas of medicine, but there are obstacles to its generalization. The high cost of new biotechnologies can exacerbate health inequalities and become a problem for health services' sustainability, especially in low and middle-income countries. The emphasis on personalized or precision medicine may shift funds away from less costly interventions that have greater public health impact.