How Precision Medicine Is Shaping the Future of Oncology
Cancer is a complex condition driven by unique genetic, molecular, and environmental factors. That complexity demands a tailored approach to care. Enter precision medicine, an evolving field that uses molecular profiling and data to match patients with the most effective, individualized therapies.
Rather than relying solely on traditional treatment approaches like chemotherapy or radiation, precision oncology harnesses tools such as genomic sequencing, biomarker analysis, and AI-driven decision support to inform more accurate, targeted interventions.
The goal? To improve outcomes, reduce unnecessary side effects, and ultimately shift cancer care toward more proactive and personalized models.
What Is Precision Medicine?
“Generally speaking, precision medicine is a molecular-based technique that's used to focus our therapeutic efforts better,” explains Dr. Brian C. Boulmay, Professor of Clinical Medicine at LSU Health New Orleans and Clinic Director of the Hematology/Oncology Clinics at the University Medical Center in New Orleans.
Precision medicine — sometimes called personalized medicine — uses information about a patient’s proteins, genes (pieces of DNA inside cells), environment, and lifestyle to determine the best treatment approach.
“Traditionally, cancer therapies were fairly untargeted. With precision medicine, it helps us identify various mutations that may be driving a cancer. Many of these mutations can be targeted with specific drugs. And in many cases, those drugs come with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.”
Molecular testing starts with a sample of tissue, blood, or other bodily fluid to look for certain genes or proteins that lead to a cancer developing. These changes (also called variants or mutations) occur when there’s a mistake during the copying process and can be passed down from parents or develop later in life. All cancers are caused by some kind of gene change.
While there are several commercially available molecular testing platforms, LSU Health New Orleans is developing an in-house program to conduct molecular testing. This will support an even more robust precision medicine program at LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center and benefit more patients in the Gulf South region.
Beyond Traditional Cancer Treatment
According to Dr. Boulmay, the benefits of molecular testing are well established and have been increasingly used for the past decade.
From diagnosis through treatment and beyond, data from molecular testing can be used to determine the best treatment options, monitor how well a treatment is working, make a prognosis, and even predict if a cancer will come back or spread to the rest of the body. It can also calculate a person’s risk of developing certain kinds of cancer and determine where a tumor will most likely develop in the body.
"It allows us to give a more efficacious treatment with less toxicity,” says Dr. Boulmay.
In addition to being more effective, targeted approaches come with fewer side effects compared to traditional methods, like chemotherapy and radiation.
“Chemotherapy is essentially a poison. It both poisons the cancer but also can cause quite a bit of side effects,” explains Dr. Boulmay. “Targeted therapies are typically less toxic than both chemotherapy and radiation.”
Clinical Trials and Precision Medicine
One of the best ways to access the most recent treatment options is through clinical trials. They connect patients with state-of-the-art, innovative treatments that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
According to Dr. Boulmay, clinical trials are increasingly designed around molecular testing. In fact, whether a patient is eligible for a trial is contingent on molecular data. Rather than relying on broader disease categories (such as type of cancer), researchers use precise molecular data to determine who can participate.
While this level of specificity can narrow the pool of eligible participants for a given study, it significantly increases the likelihood that those who do enroll will respond well to the therapy. More effective treatment leads to improved patient outcomes and a more efficient research process, benefitting even more patients than those in the study alone.
Looking Ahead: The Next Decade in Cancer Treatment
Precision medicine is not a distant ideal — it's a rapidly advancing reality that’s reshaping how we understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. By using molecular data, new technologies, and targeted therapies, we are moving closer to a model of care that is truly individualized.
As LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center continues to invest in research, technology, and patient-centered care, we remain committed to a simple but powerful goal: make cancer treatment smarter, more effective, and more personalized to every patient we serve.