Biobanks - medicine of the future

Biobanks are the basis for progress in medicine

Researchers and doctors are working tirelessly to better understand and treat diseases. Whether cancer, rheumatism or heart disease: Many diseases can be better diagnosed and treated if we know as much as possible about them.

The aim is to tailor therapies ever more precisely to the disease of the individual patient and thus increase their chances of recovery. Biobanks play an important role in this.

Biobanks are an important basis for progress in medicine, as they help scientists to develop better diagnoses and therapies for many diseases. With the help of precision medicine, diseases can be diagnosed ever more precisely so that exactly the right treatment can be given. Precision medicine uses data from genetic or molecular research to apply the right therapy for the right patient at the right time.

The major goal of precision medicine: customised, successful therapies

Impressive successes have already been achieved in the field of cancer medicine. For example, new biobank-based therapeutic approaches have significantly improved the quality of life and survival times of patients with melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer or certain forms of leukaemia (AML).

In black skin cancer (malignant melanoma), for example, the BRAF gene is partly responsible for the disease in 70 per cent of cases. The gene is overactivated by a mutation. A precisely matching drug switches off the faulty gene and prevents further tumour growth.

A patient's genetic data can predict the effectiveness of a therapy

In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), many different subtypes are diagnosed on the basis of genetic profiles and external characteristics, which have different prognoses and require different treatments. Successful therapy depends crucially on the genetic characteristics of the tumour, which are determined with the help of biobanks.

There is a whole range of targeted therapy options for non-small cell lung cancer, which - based on molecular diagnostics - can extend the survival of patients from a few weeks to several years in some cases.