Lucknow: Facilities of precision medicine and personalised cancer management—the new global standard of patient care—is in to make a beginning in the city. Center for Advanced Research King George's Medical University will be rolling out several tests needed to detect gene mutation in patients.Faculty, molecular biology department, Dr Neetu Singh informed that various tests will help in precise staging of cancer and finalising medicine plan. "Once the exact area of cancer is identified, a strategy to eliminate it can be framed. The problem area is selected and targeted drug is provided to counter the genetic mutation and kill the tumour," she said.Some of these tests will be able to examine and predict patient's response to the drug so that the dosage may be altered for better outcomes. For example, the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFT) test that reads 29 different mutations is helpful for lung cancer patients, incidence of which is high in Uttar Pradesh. KRAS for colorectal cancer and HPV for cervical cancer are extremely useful.The center will roll out the services in a month's time. So far, cancer patients in the state had to send their samples to private centres in Mumbai or New Delhi, which provided the service at an exorbitant price."Cancer occurs when normal cells in an organ are corrupted by mutation (change) in their DNA structure. This leads to their uncontrolled growth which has to be checked through options like chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. A number of health cells and tissues are also lost in the process. The idea of precision medicine is to test every patient's tumour, find the mutation and plan a guided attack on it," said Prof Ravi Kant, vice-chancellor, KGMU

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