Award-winning medic Natasha Tiffany, MD, practices at the Oregon Oncology Specialists office in Salem, Oregon. Focused on providing quality medical care to patients with cancer, Natasha Tiffany, MD, recommends immunotherapy treatments.

1. The Long Journey to
Personalized Cancer
Treatments
Natasha Tiffany MD

2. Introduction
 An alumna of the Oregon Health and Science
University, Natasha Tiffany, MD, is an affiliate
assistant professor at the same institution. Focused
on medical oncology and hematology, Natasha
Tiffany, MD, encourages the use of targeted
personalized medicine to improve patient outcomes.
Personalized cancer therapy has opened new
horizons in the treatment of cancer. Before, patients
with cancer had limited treatment options. In fact,
the treatment procedure doctors followed was
largely determined by the part of the body where the
cancer originated and the options included only
chemotherapy and hormone therapy. Both of these
did not lead to uniform results across patients and
were known to have serious side effects in some
patients.
With personalized therapy, however, everything
changes. Rather than applying uniform treatments
to all patients, doctors are able to tailor treatment
plans for individual patients.

3. Personalized
Cancer
Treatments
 It all started with the advent of
targeted therapy in the late 1990s. This
type of therapy interfered with the
functions of cancer cells, stopping them
from multiplying and spreading. It also
made it possible for doctors to
customize treatments according to
patients’ profiles. They could now test
patients’ cancers to determine whether
certain treatments would work,
consider their individual genetics to
evaluate their capacity to handle
certain treatments, and even identify
their likelihood of developing certain
cancers. These improvements have not
only increased positive outcomes, but
they have also improved quality of life
and reduced healthcare costs for
patients.