ecancermedicalscience, the open access journal of the European Institute of Oncology, has published a new Special Issue on personalised medicine.  This free-to-read compilation features articles on the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project "p-medicine - From data sharing and integration via VPH (Virtual Physiological Human) models to personalised medicine".

Personalised medicine is an emerging global challenge. Researchers, doctors, policymakers and government healthcare officials are racing to meet the demand for customised healthcare, which heralds a new age of patient empowerment while introducing a new set of challenges.

"While personalised medicine has come of age in richer countries, treatments now should match each patient's individual cancers and their special cognitive personalities," said ecancermedicalscience Founding Editor Professor Gordon McVie in an interview with the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine. "If we can improve the public understanding of the new ways to defeat cancer, patients will be better equipped to take responsibility for their own treatment."

Guest edited by Professor Norbert Graf of Saarland University, Germany, the Special Issue highlights the unique challenges involved in delivering the benefits of personalised medicine to individual patients, particularly the necessary IT infrastructure.

"The challenge is to deliver the benefits of personalized medicine to each individual," writes Professor Graf. "Therefore patient empowerment is a main task within the p-medicine project."