الملخص الإنجليزي
The diagnosis and treatment of cancer
continues to pose profound challenges. Over
the past 50–60 years, significant advances
have been made in the screening, early detection,
diagnosis and treatment of cancer, resulting in
the current cure rate of 40–60%.1–3 Together with
surgery and radiotherapy, systemic chemotherapy
has been the mainstay of cancer treatment for over
half a century. However, conventional cytotoxic
chemotherapy is fraught with both short- and longterm side-effects, to the extent that many patients and
caregivers consider the option of cancer treatment to
represent a choice between 'the devil and the deep sea'.
Although combinations of cytotoxic chemotherapy are
developed following rigorous evidence-based testing,
a significant number of patients may not benefit from
the combination and develop side-effects due to the
non-selective nature of the treatment. Personalised
and individualised treatment therefore remains a
much desired but elusive goal for cancer patients,
caregivers and healthcare professionals alike.
