Insurers say costs aren't their only concern; they argue that evidence is lacking to show the precision medicine approach will work consistently. (Photo: Shutterstock)
When Kristen Kilmer was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer at age 38, her first thought was of her 8-year-old daughter. Kilmer lost her own mother as a teenager and was determined to get more time with her only child.
Kilmer searched for experimental treatments, opting for an unproven approach in which researchers select drugs based on the genes in patients' tumors. Doctors have selected her treatments for the past three years based on the unique, ever-changing DNA of her cancer cells. Now 41, Kilmer has responded better than anyone dared to hope. Her cancer has gone into hiding; her tumors are no longer visible on medical scans.
Researchers call the strategy “precision medicine.”
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