SANTA MONICA, CALIF. —
YOU HAVE BEEN
DIAGNOSED WITH
LUNG CANCER.
There is a bewildering array of drugs, and combinations of drugs, that may
shrink the tumor and prolong your life. Or they could make matters worse and
give you terrible side effects.
In the past, this decision was mostly a crude guess, and it was often wrong.
No longer.
Now, your doctor draws blood
and tissue, sends the information
to a medical Big Data center that,
in seconds, sequences your entire
genome and, more importantly,
maps how the proteins and the
cells in your body are translating
your specific DNA mutation into
tumor cells. Your doctor then accesses a secure global “bank” of
cancer DNA and tissue, and develops an individual cocktail for you,
administering it with precise nan-
otechnology. You recover at home,
monitored by high-information
devices connected through transmitters to your doctor and clinic.
This is a glimpse of the future
that Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong of
Los Angeles has spent a decade
imagining — and is now rapidly
assembling. The technology and
science are all at hand, he says.
It’s “just” a matter of putting
them together into a logical and
humane whole.