Precision Medicine, Made Possible with Metabolomics

Traditionally, most medical interventions follow the one-size-fits-all approach, have been designed for a “typical” patient, and have been codified in treatment guidelines. Such strategies may be successful in some individuals while others will draw no benefit from them. By contrast, precision medicine considers differences in people’s genomes, environments, and lifestyles to tailor disease prevention and treatments. Thus, the most appropriate targeted therapy is delivered to the right patient at the correct time, which is the goal of precision medicine. Additionally, a patient’s ability to tolerate or respond to a therapeutic intervention (medicinal and nutritional) can be characterized and the information utilized to optimize the effects of these interventions. Despite continuous progress and many success stories, many in the field of oncology, broad implementation of precision medicine in practice is missing.

Once you see the full value of metabolomics, the only remaining question is who does it best? While many laboratories have metabolite profiling or analytical chemistry capabilities, comprehensive metabolomics technologies are extremely rare. Accurate, unbiased metabolite identification across the entire metabolome introduces signal-to-noise challenges that very few labs are equipped to handle. Also, translating massive quantities of data into actionable information is slow, if not impossible, for most because proper interpretation takes two things that are in short supply: experience and a comprehensive database.