New method for therapy selection in precision medicine explored

Medicine & Science A study led last year by Wolfgang Schreiner from MedUni Vienna demonstrated the advantage of decision theory as a valuable extension of conventional statistics in therapy selection in precision medicine. In a research study based thereon, a new method was investigated to render medical decisions more justifiable and independent of intuitions. This is particularly important wherever different diagnostic procedures deliver contradictory findings, each with different therapeutic consequences. The results of the study were recently published in the Journal of Personalised Medicine. The new method, known as the Flexible Risk Evidence Combination Rules, was explored by the MedUni Vienna scientists using the example of determining the hormone receptor status of patients with breast cancer. The receptor status was determined by using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene expression (GE). These two diagnostic methods can sometimes yield conflicting findings.