14. Genetic profiling could mean better treatment
“There’s a lot of exciting work being done in personalized medicine,” says Dr. Marchetta. The goal: “To see if a person responds better to drug A than drug B.”
In a recent study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatology, experts analyzed joint tissue from 41 rheumatoid arthritis patients to determine which gene variations each individual had and how they responded to each type of drug. Next, they hope to predict which patients will respond best to specific drugs based on their genetic signature, saving time and money this way.