On July 10, the House overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which contains many provisions designed to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of precision medicines. The goal of precision medicine is to get the right medicine to the right patient at the right time. But, as the Senate considers companion legislation to the House effort, there’s still more to be done to ensure that we have the right regulatory and reimbursement tools to incentivize the development of cures for the most devastating diseases.

As a three-time cancer survivor, I’m excited by the progress we’ve made against the “emperor of all maladies.” I’m mindful, though, of how much further we have to go to conquer it. Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States. Far better diagnostic and treatment options are needed for patients diagnosed with metastatic solid tumors of the lung, colon, pancreas, or ovaries. Diagnosing these diseases after they have metastasized — as we do all too often today — means that the best we can do is delay the inevitable, at great human and financial cost.

I remain optimistic, because I’ve seen firsthand the inventiveness of America’s leading researchers and companies. I’m watching a flood of new information emerge that is helping researchers map out cancer’s vulnerabilities at the genomic level, and develop treatment strategies tailored to a patient’s unique tumor profile. These approaches are being made possible by advanced computing platforms that can rapidly sort through torrents of information, guiding doctors and patients to the best therapies. For instance, IBM’s Watson is analyzing millions of journal articles, patient records, and data on approved and experimental drugs to help develop personalized cancer-care regimens faster than any physician could ever do. Watson and other “big data” and machine-learning approaches are getting smarter every day — and will, one day, expand state-of-the-art oncology services to every cancer patient in America, not just those with access to leading cancer centers.

Read the article “Ushering in a Golden Age of Medicine” on city-journal.org.