IT Makes Personalized Medicine a Reality

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By Deanna Natalizio

Information Technology (IT) has revolutionized the way information is retrieved, transmitted, processed and stored. Its applications have altered industry of all types, becoming a catalyst for change through the creation of cutting edge technology and hastened access to information. The growing volume of research data and relatively prehistoric methods of keeping track of patient health records have made the union of IT to health related innovation a sorely needed merger.

The prevalence of health related finalists at the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA), held in Toronto in November, is evidence of the burgeoning role played by IT in the field of health research. Finalists qualified for their inventive uses of IT in projects designed to transform both the science of health and the structure of the healthcare system itself. Recognized projects are reversing the structure of treatment from reactive to preventative by focusing strategies for discovery on individual genetic differences, and by making personalized health information comprehensive and integrative.

The National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Information Technology, in collaboration with Dr. Nabil Belacel, was awarded the Gold Award for Innovation for the development of a new strategy for gene expression-based biomarker discovery.

Biomarkers are combinations of diseased characteristics found within strands of DNA which indicate a risk of cancer. “Usually we have 30,000 genes in any one tissue, (and) to find which markers could discriminate between cancer and normal tissue required more knowledge discovery,” stated Dr. Belacel. “The problem is the connection between these genes and the billions of possibilities resulting from their interaction,” he further added. The possibilities are made even more complex due to each person’s unique genetic composition, and predisposition to becoming a fixed target for certain diseases.

Dr. Belacel’s response was to create software that uses a mathematical model, or algorithm, to analyze and sort through the voluminous data. DNA micro-array technology was used to validate the ability of the software to identify prostrate cancer tumours with 96% accuracy. Belacel’s software marks the advent of an approach to early diagnosis of cancer, which pays heed to the warning signs embedded within a person’s genetic makeup. The NRC hopes to extend its use to the detection of ovarian, lung and colon cancers.

A second highlight of the night was the induction of Richard Alvarez into the 2006 CIPA Hall of Fame. Alvarez is CEO of Canada Health Infoway (CHI), an organization working to accelerate the use of electronic health information systems and electronic health records (EHRs) across Canada.

“We are all using technology in all spheres of our lives, pulling information in constantly, yet we are not doing that in health care today,” reflects Alvarez. Electronic systems will provide health care professionals with immediate access to patients’ accurate health histories, including laboratory and radiology test results, past treatments, diagnostic imaging, prescription drug profiles and immunizations. Patients will also enjoy privileged access to their health information, “Think of the banking industry, think going to an ATM, putting in your card and getting your balance anywhere in the world,” explained Alvarez. Patients will enjoy an enhanced quality of care through improved clinical decision making on the part of their practitioners.

More effective diagnosis and treatments, increased efficiency and improved access to services are among some of the benefits to be reaped. Alvarez speculates that within the next three years, “almost 50% of Canadians will have access through their clinicians, or directly, to their electronic health records.”

If the innovation presented at the CIPA Awards is any indication, the future of the Canadian health care system is set to undergo a major facelift. Dr. Belacel and like-minded professionals are using science to tailor treatments to an individual’s genetic profile, while organizations such as the CHI are formulating ways of making health data streamlined and readily available. The changing methods of scientific discovery and information management are unified in their various approaches to improving patient quality of life, the prevailing sentiment being the need to address the diversity of the individual.