Implementing Precision Medicine: The Ethical Challenges

Precision medicine aims to individualize care by understanding differences in genetics, lifestyle, and environment. Pharmacogenomics and cancer genetics represent two promising areas for this approach. Pharmacogenomic tests have the potential to direct drug prescribing to increase safety and effectiveness because individuals vary on a genetic basis in their response to many drugs. Similarly, tests to identify people with an inherited cancer risk can guide prevention. For both, a few tests have entered clinical practice and more are under development. Implementation challenges include the limited evidence base available to guide clinical use and the lack of data from diverse populations. Accordingly, ongoing research should prioritize procedures that enhance the trustworthiness of clinical practice guidelines and create decision support for clinicians and patients that address their needs and accommodate flexibility. Each step involves choices with ethical implications.