Draft:Avatar Medicine
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Comment: Much of the content is unsourced and sources provided are either not reliable per WP:MEDRS or do not mention Avatar Medicine. See also WP:Articles for deletion/Avatar Medicine as the article was deleted just months ago. S0091 (talk) 18:03, 31 July 2023 (UTC)
Avatar medicine, also known as Avatar-based medicine, refers to the use of a virtual or physical representation of a patient in medical research and practice. This approach involves collecting personal samples or data from the patient and providing them to relevant institutions for further analysis, including clinical consultations, diagnostic testing, and treatment assistance. The goal of avatar medicine is to utilize a surrogate, either virtual or physical, to replace the actual patient, reducing the risks they may face during the treatment process and overcoming limitations imposed by distance or time.
While the process of avatar medicine is derived from personalized medicine in the involvement of individualized approaches in healthcare, they differ in their focus and implementation. Avatar medicine primarily revolves around the use of a surrogate or avatar to represent the patient, while personalized medicine encompasses a broader range of strategies to tailor medical care based on individual characteristics.
Avatar medicine offers several advantages over traditional forms of medicine, primarily because it shifts away from the notion of a "one size fits all" approach.[1] Unlike traditional medicine, which often relies on standardized protocols, avatar medicine utilizes target therapy mechanism[2], which targets individual characteristics and needs. This personalized approach enables physicians to tailor treatments based on a patient's unique genetic makeup, biomarker expression, and disease progression.[3] By considering these factors, avatar medicine can significantly minimize the risk of harm to healthy cells, as it aims to deliver more patient-specific therapies with enhanced efficacy.
Development of Concept[edit]
From Precision Medicine to Avatar Medicine
Concepts of Avatar Medicine began to gain traction in 2021 when it aims to address the limitations in precision medicine. Precision medicine was most famously practiced in 1979 when scientists transplanted human insulin genes into the plasmids of Escherichia coli bacteria.[4] Despite the advancement in technology, studies have shown that there is still a struggle with analyzing and validating big data and biological mechanisms with personalized medicine. The introduction of avatar medicine into the medical field builds upon the success of personalized medicine. By employing the usage of external research and development, which along with professional consultation and traditional methods of medical treatments have proven to be highly effective for medical practices. The multimodality and integration of avatar medicine is expected to become a new trend in the treatment of cancer and other diseases in the future.
Current Practices[edit]
Cancer Treatments
Avatar medicine has been used as an alternative practice with traditional forms of cancer treatment. The collaboration between practices prevents patients from missing the optimal time for treatment and prevents harmful side effects from ineffective drug usage.
Recent studies have shown that with the cultivation of viable circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and anticancer drug screening services, the effectiveness of the medication including small molecule drugs and monoclonal antibodies against cancer can be tested. An example of this medical development is the technology known as EVA Select (Ex-Vivo Avatar Select), where tumor-derived organoids from minimal amounts of circulating tumor cell are grown in vitro to mimic the patient’s response to drug treatments.[5] Thus with the partnership between research and clinical consultation, cancer patients are treated with the optimal strategy, enabling them to combat cancer at different stages.
Similarly, avatar medicine has been used in cancer treatment to demonstrate targeted therapy. In a research of non-small cell lung cancer, researchers have determined a corresponding inhibitor EGFR-TKI (Erlotinib, Gefitinib, Afatinib, Qsimertinib) that is designed for the excessive production of EGFR-TK mutation, which is responsible for the metastasis of cancer cells. This finding gives hope to the medical field as cancer patients have a new form of treatment that can directly target the metastasizing nature of cancer cells. The usage of avatar medicine has demonstrated to increase the survival rate of patients with lung cancers by providing targeted and guaranteed effective medicine.[6]
Animal Avatar
Avatar medicine can also be employed in vivo including in Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish have been demonstrated to share a high degree of genomic homology with humans, ranging from 70% to 80%, where up to 82% of disease-associated human proteins have orthologs in zebrafish.[7] Zebrafish embryos are transparent, allowing for excellent observation of tumor abnormalities, such as abnormal proliferation, migration, and metastasis, even in the entire live animal. Using zebrafish as a cancer research model offers additional advantages. Successful engraftment of transplanted cancer cells requires only a small number, typically >500 cells. Moreover, within eight days post fertilization (8dpf), zebrafish embryos have an immature immune system, avoiding issues of xenograft rejection. Researchers can transplant patient-derived cancer cells into zebrafish embryos without the need for prior artificial immunosuppression. The transplantation in partnership with drug screening can allow for rapid evaluation of the medication effectiveness.
References[edit]
- ^ Addario, B. J.(2019, Aug 20). Why a One-Size-Fits-All approach to Cancer Care Doesn't Work. Future of Personal Health.https://www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/cancer-care/why-a-one-size-fits-all-approach-to-cancer-care-doesnt-work/
- ^ American Society of Clinical Oncology (2014). History of Cancer Treatments: Targeted Therapy. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/understanding-cancer/history-of-cancer/cancer-treatment-targeted-therapy.html
- ^ Rivenbark, A. G., O’Connor, S. M., & Coleman, W. B. (2013, August 27). Molecular and cellular heterogeneity in breast cancer: Challenges for Personalized Medicine. The American Journal of Pathology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002944013005518
- ^ Riggs, A. D. (2021, May 25). Making, cloning, and the expression of human insulin genes in bacteria: The path to Humulin. Endocrine reviews. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8152450/
- ^ "Highlight Case - Jingtuo Biotechnology Co". Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Yuan, M., Huang, L. L., Chen, J. H., Wu, J., & Xu, Q. (2019). The emerging treatment landscape of targeted therapy in non-small-cell lung cancer. Signal transduction and targeted therapy, 4, 61. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-019-0099-9
- ^ Fazio, M., Ablain, J., Chuan, Y. et al. Zebrafish patient avatars in cancer biology and precision cancer therapy. Nat Rev Cancer 20, 263–273 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-020-0252-3