Abstract
The mainstay generic therapies of cancer including chemotherapy, are partly effective in a subset of the patient population due to the complexity and heterogenous nature of the disease. Nevertheless, the inherent variability of cancer has steered cancer therapy towards the concept of precision medicine. The approach focuses on matching effective and accurate treatment on the genetic profile of a patient and different unique characteristics that distinguishes one patient from another. Currently, precision oncology has been driven by various innovations including liquid biopsy, next generation sequencing (NGS) and multi-omics integration. Recent advances in next generation-based sequences have enabled the analysis of analytes including circulating DNA and genomic DNA. Liquid biopsy has enabled minimal invasion alternative and real-time monitoring of tumour dynamics and analysis of treatment responses. Moreover, emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and nanotechnology has enhanced the sensitivity of liquid biopsy. Similarly, multi-omics integration offers insights into the interactions between transcriptomic, proteomic, epigenomic and genomic enabling the unravelling the complex molecular mechanism driving carcinogenesis. These advances have resulted in the discovery of novel biomarkers and diverse therapeutic targets for different types of cancers. However, despite the promising advancements, challenges remain, such as concerns on data privacy, need for clinical validation and computational limitations. Ongoing research is, therefore, critical to embrace precision oncology in routine clinical care.