Tailor-made medical approach better than one size fits all

Precision medicine is showing great results in clinical prevention, diagnosis and treatment, especially for rare diseases.

Currently, about half of rare diseases are hard to diagnose and 90 percent cannot be treated by medicine.

Precision medicine and molecular pathology are streamlining the detection, treatment and prevention of rare diseases, medical experts told the Fudan International Summit Forum on Precision Medicine in Shanghai.

Precision medicine looks at individual differences in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person.

Diseases that affect 0.65 to 1 person per 1,000 are designated as rare – and there are more than 7,000 worldwide.

About 80 percent are hereditary, affecting 350 million people around the world and more than 20 million in China.

About half are kids.

"The molecular pathology center has become an important platform for our hospital's clinical research, new technology and new drug applications and the introduction of scientific research into clinical use," said Dr Fan Jia, president of the Zhongshan Hospital.

"With the development of molecular pathology, the medical industry is working on a service system targeting the whole population and covering the entire life circle."

Molecular medicine has been used in rare disease prevention and control, cancer screening, disease prediction, diagnosis and treatment as well as rehabilitation.

A total of 49 experts from 31 medical centers in China, South Korea, the United States and Japan delivered online addresses through the forum.