[Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated that Bumrungrad launched the Foundation One CDx panel. The system developed its own panel. The article is now updated. We regret the error.]

Bumrungrad International Hospital, a private multiple-specialty medical centre founded 1980 in Bangkok, Thailand, announced the launch of its own genomic profiling panel for cancer treatment. A Core Genomics Facility has been established to produce validated panels in-house.

Since all patients are different, specific individual treatments, often called targeted therapies or precision medicine, are customised to each patient and can be more effective than standard cancer treatments.

What’s the trend

Earlier in February this year, BC Platforms, a company which specialises in powerful genomic data management and analysis solutions, partnered with Bumrungrad International Hospital to provide its customisable end-to-end Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform to enable Bumrungrad to offer personalised healthcare solutions for their patients in the clinic. Bumrungrad will also participate in providing its extensive Asian data and samples to BCRQUEST, providing additional sample diversity and data resources for researchers.

On the record

“It is a misconception that cancer is mostly hereditary. In many cases, personalised cancer treatment is better. Everybody has a different genetic make-up which makes us susceptible to different diseases therefore medication can work in different ways for different people. In some cases, we can use targeted therapy to help control the cancer,” said Dr Surasit Issarachai, an Oncology Specialist at Horizon Regional Cancer Centre, Bumrungrad International Hospital in a statement.