Strategy ‘has potential to revolutionise medicine’
CLINICIANS will soon be able to offer more Welsh patients a targeted form of treatment by analysing their genes, it has been revealed.
A £6.8m strategy has been launched by the Welsh Government to ensure the country is able to offer treatment plans revolutionised by better understanding of human DNA.
It is hoped patients will receive a quicker diagnosis and more personalised treatments by harnessing the new cutting-edge “gene testing” genomics technologies in the Welsh NHS.
The strategy also sets out plans to apply the latest techniques for improved disease prediction and gain a better understanding of disease outbreaks.
In addition, it will develop research in genetics and genomics, grow knowledge and skills among the NHS and non-NHS workforce and build strategic partnerships in genomics for precision medicine.
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: “New genetic and genomic technologies are allowing us to develop a much more detailed understanding of the link between our genes and our health.
“The strategy has the potential to revolutionise medicine and public health; it marks a move away from reductionism and moves us towards a new era of precision medicine.
“It will enable patients across Wales to access this new technology and shorten their ‘diagnostic odyssey’.
“Our strategy is not just about providing new test results; it is also about the care and support that patients need in accessing these services and providing them with the information that they need to make the right decision for themselves and their condition, armed with the most accurate, up-to-date and considered information available.
“For instance, our understanding of the genetic basis of cancer now supports the provision of targeted therapies to patients.
“In lung cancer, four genetic markers have been identified and these allow clinicians to give the treatments most likely to stop the growth of tumours, shrink them and lengthen quality and duration of life.”
For many years, genetics has been a specialist service, dealing with rare genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, inherited breast cancer, Huntington’s disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
But over the last 10 years genetics has significantly progressed with the sequencing of the human genome.
The whole of a person’s DNA can now be sequenced due to changes in technology.
The All Wales Medical Genetics Service (AWMGS) at Cardiff and Vale UHB has been operational for over 30 years and provides specialist genetic services to people with rare genetic conditions.
Dr Rachel Butler, of the AWMGS, said: “We could only sequence one gene at a time or just a little bit of a gene, new technologies mean that we can sequence a person’s whole genome in 24-48 hours.
“Ten years ago it would take a year to do and cost millions. It’s now something we can afford to do for NHS patients to offer them the best care for their condition.
“There are different analysis strategies for patients, and their families, depending on their clinical conditions.
“There are new services we could be offering to patients because of the new technologies – rather than genetics being a specialist service for few patients it’s now growing and is applicable to many different types of medicine.”
She said because of new technology, far more families and patients ar being helped than ever before.
“Cancer is a little bit different, we don’t look at the genetic conditions people are born with, we look at the tumour – the cancer a patient has acquired.
“We look at the makeup of the genetics of the tumour, we can predict which drugs a patient is likely to respond to – we call this precision medicine or personalised medicine.
“We can provide precision medicine services for lung, colorectal, breast and melanoma and leukaemia cancers.
“Going forward, we hope we can roll this model out in other diseases.”
The Welsh Government set up a task force in 2016 to ensure the strategy was developed.
The task force was made up of Welsh Government officials, genomic experts, Public Health Wales and health board representatives from around Wales.
Matt Temby, director of operations for the Clinical Diagnostics and Therapeutics Clinical Board at Cardiff and Vale UHB said: “The health board welcomes this new strategy which will enable more patients across Wales to access precision medicine in the future, and will help provide patients with services that give them the right information about their condition, providing care and support to them when they need it the most.”
Andy Glyde, Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager in Wales, said: “This new strategy is excellent news for the future of patient care in Wales, especially as it’s been underpinned by significant funding.
“Further understanding and application of genomics will be essential to tackling cancer and saving many more lives from this devastating disease.
“For this strategy to be successful, there will need to be an expansion of diagnostic services in Wales to efficiently and safely handle patient data and samples.
“This is a long term plan but we look forward to the foundations of this important project being laid in the near future.”