Translating Systems Medicine into Clinical Practice: Examples from Pulmonary Medicine with Genetic Disorders, Infections, Inflammations, Cancer Genesis and Treatment

The medical research and clinical practice community has long recognized that many diseases and conditions are not homogeneous. While the concept of an “average” patient has been the status quo, we are starting to see the limitations of this practice in that the cost of developing new medications are escalating while the improvements of patient outcome through these treatments are marginal. Policy makers around the world are increasingly recognizing a need for meaningful improvements and in patient outcome that is at the same time economically sustainable, and are thus turning to systems medicine approaches to provide a solution.

Systems medicine, sometimes also referred to as, precision medicine, personalized medicine or Preventive, Predictive, Personalized and Participative Medicine (P4 Medicine), is a data-driven approach to disease prevention, diagnostics and treatment, involving genomic, epigenetic, transcriptomic data as well as long-term tracking of health parameters. Essentially, systems medicine approaches health and medical conditions in a holistic manner and is likely to greatly improve healthcare with a likely shift from diseases to promotion of well-being and health resulting in a dramatic decrease in costs. In practice however, what does it actually mean?

In this Research Topic, we examine the challenges in translating systems medicine to the clinic and provide examples of success stories from pulmonary medicine with genetic disorders, infection, inflammation, and cancer genesis/treatment. We welcome experimental and theoretical research on systems medicine to raise awareness of the complex nature of this integrative and holistic approach to management and treatment of various disorders. Of special interest are reviews and original research articles that focus on the latest developments in the field of systems medicine and the underlying biochemical, physiological and environment interactions. We also welcome manuscripts that discuss themes and questions that the field should address, including ethical aspects and policy changes that may be required in the coming years with the overall goal of putting together a series of articles that will provide researchers and clinicians with the knowledge base they can use to better understand the applications of systems medicine to improve patient care and treatment outcomes.