The EU is investing in the development of personalised medicine, which allows doctors to offer preventative treatments for cancer and heart disease.

Most commonly used to treat cancer, personalised medicine can offer patients the best possible treatment by focusing on the individual genetic and biological make-up of their tumours. Thanks to advances in research, personalised medicine could be made available to more patients, and scientists are optimistic about its future.

If traditional treatments are ineffective, or the cancer is recurrent, patients can undergo tests to determine the specific molecular anomalies in their tumours, and how bestto block theirenzyme activity. Doctors can then target these anomalies, which may occur in multiple cancers, and are thus able to prescribe medication to treat several tumours simultaneously.

"Personalised medicine works by focusing on the genetic make-up of the tumour, rather than the patient," Agns Buzyn, president of the French National Cancer Institute (INCA), explained during a Medef Summer University workshop.

External factors such as environment and lifestyle are also taken into account, as they can influence a patient's illness andthe effectiveness of its treatment.

Heart disease risk-assessment

Personalised medicine can also be used to treat heart disease. Risk assessment can greatly improve the effectiveness of preventative treatment, and can enable doctors to intervene swiftly with effective measures before any problems arise.

By analysing the concentration of certain proteins in the blood, along with the patient's individual genetic data, it is possible to predict with relative accuracy whether the patient is at risk of developing heart disease in the future.

>> Read: New cardiovascular disease treatments urgently needed, experts say

Pharmaceutical companies take the strain

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Treatments improved through personalised medicine