HMC concludes Precision Medicine Breast Cancer Management conference

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) recently hosted the eighth Qatar Annual Breast Cancer Conference, bringing together first-class local and international speakers, comprising over 300 participants from Qatar, the region, and abroad.The conference aimed to update the knowledge on managing breast cancer and implementing personalised genetically targeted therapy - clarifying the potential implications of a patient's genomic results and the impact of Precision Medicine on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer.Precision Medicine is a disease treatment and prevention strategy that considers individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle – it's about using genetic biomarkers to switch from one-size-fits-all treatment to a personalised approach. Dr Salha Bujassoum, senior medical oncologist at Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) National Centre for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR), said: "Precision Medicine is providing new hope to patients and their families in Qatar. The concept of an individualised approach is not new in the field of breast cancer; however, recent advances in genomic medicine allowed more personalised approaches.“Breast cancer is not one disease, it has been subclassified into different subtypes based on molecular analyses. The treatment of breast cancer by endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, and anti-HER2and immune- therapy is recommended based on this subtype, which has been accepted in daily clinical practice."The two-day conference summarised the latest updates for breast cancer management with therapeutic options and shed light on translational aspects of breast and cancer research. These included prognosis, other therapeutics, available clinical trials, and translation research in clinical practice, with a collaborative effort between breast team doctors, MDT core members, and international expert guest speakers.Besides promoting precision medicine among healthcare professionals across the region and beyond, the conference provided an opportunity to highlight the clinical application of precision medicine in medical oncology. Focusing on breast cancer and giving an excellent example of how HMC as a clinical institute supports the Qatar Precision Medicine Institute's (QPMI) initiative that Qatar Foundation established. The QPMI is an independent entity responsible for consolidating national efforts and resources and steering future activities in a coordinated manner towards realising a comprehensive Precision Medicine strategy to deliver world-class future healthcare for Qatar’s population. "Precision medicine is the future of medical care; this is good news for patients as it will lead to more clinical trials guided by tumour profiling and genetic testing. It will also help speed up the bench-to-bedside continuum to improve patients’ quality of life; and, ultimately, find cures for cancer and other life-threatening diseases," Dr Bujassoum concluded.