Molecular network analysis using reverse phase protein microarrays for patient tailored therapy.

The practice of medicine has always aimed at individualized treatment of disease. The relationship between patient and physician has always been a personal one, and the physician's choice of treatment has been intended to be the best fit for the patient's needs. The necessary pooling/grouping of disease families and their assignment to a number of drugs or treatment methods has, consequently, led to an increase in the number of effective therapies. However, given the heterogeneity of most human diseases, and cancer specifically, it is currently impossible for the treating clinician to effectively predict a patient's response and outcome based on current technologies, much less the idiosyncratic resistances and adverse effects associated with the limited therapeutic options.