title: How the practice of allergy shows the promise and challenge of personalized medicine.
abstract: Personalized medicine seeks to stratify therapies according to individual characteristics, and by so doing improve effectiveness and reduce complications. However, there are not many models of care that is highly stratified within a single diagnosis in this manner. One potential model is the practice of allergy, in which care is tailored to specific allergens for individual patients within the broader context of care for rhinitis or asthma. Allergists have already confronted many of the same regulatory issues anticipated for personalized medicine. The history of allergy practice also anticipates some of the patient safety concerns that may arise from tracking and using highly personalized medical information. Finally, the therapy of allergy and asthma has been at the forefront of attempts to incorporate pharmacogenomics information into patient care. Individualized therapy has always been central to the practice of allergy, and so provides a useful proving ground for personalized medicine as a concept of care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Immunology and Allergy, 269 Campus Drive, CCSR Bldg Rm 2115, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. smcghee@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Sean A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: McGhee
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D015894:Genome, Human / Q000235:genetics; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D007167:Immunotherapy; D061214:Patient Safety; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000191:economics; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000235:genetics; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta