Targeted Therapies

Will gene screens usher in personalized medicine?

Drugs can cure you and they can kill you. More often, they’ll do something in between. They’ll relieve some of what ails you, but there may be a cost. Side effects can be relatively mild, such as rashes, fever, fatigue, and nausea. Or they can be more severe, including internal bleeding, insufficient numbers of white blood cells, and abnormal heart rhythms.