BENGALURU: A four-year-old boy was brought to Health Care Global (HCG) Hospital three years ago and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of blood cancer. His family history offered vital clues.
His father had died of AML shortly after a bone marrow transplant. His paternal aunt was also suffering from the disease. Genomic profiling at HCG costing `30,000, revealed that a type of mutation in his gene will prevent him from benefiting from chemotherapy. Since his brother had bruising on his arms doctors profiled him too and found the mutation. Though he hasn’t tested positive for the disease, he is under close surveillance by doctors.
Healthcare Global Hospital (HCG) formally inaugurated its genomic profiling centre called Triesta Genomics and Translational Research Centre on Friday. It has already profiled 1,000 patients.
Genomic Medicine involves usage of genomic data of patients for better diagnosis. These will help in making medical decisions more effective and help improve health outcomes.
Dr B S Ajaikumar, Chairman, HCG, said, “We have seen instances where 48 per cent of patients do not respond to certain drugs due to their genetic makeup. However, by conducting genetic analysis and radiation genomics, followed by precision medicine, we were able to manage the disease and design the course of treatment.”
Dr Mithua Ghosh, Director, Triesta, said, “Understanding the genetic signature or profile of the cancer helps oncologists penetrate the root level cause of the disease at the molecular and genetic level.”
The centre has also partnered with Strand Life Sciences for clinical informatics. The wealth of data emerging from cancer genome studies will be integrated with patients’ medical histories and clinical data using big data analytics. This Genomics Data Bank can lead to a better understanding of Indian population genetics and help develop more tailored approaches to predict treatment response in patients.