Cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. In Hong Kong, cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths and a major concern of the health care system. With the number of new cases continuing to rise, it is expected that cancer will remain at the forefront of all disease incidences and mortalities in Hong Kong and Asian regions in the forthcoming years. In addition, the sharp rising incidence of many cancer types in China and Asian nations, it is foreseeable that there will be an increasing in the social and economic burden on Asian societies. Nevertheless, cancer is also a disease of the genome. Despite its dismal prognosis, cancer is in actual fact a particularly promising area for personalized medicine. Recent clinical trial studies have clearly demonstrated the potential use of gene mutations in predicting responses to therapy and a way by which cancer patients can be accurately selected for specific treatment regime. In sum, genome information underpins the development of personalized medicine as a driver of medical progress.
mysteries.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite recent advances in the management of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity, the prevalence of CVD continues to increase worldwide. It is well established that the level of circulating blood lipids is one of the cardiovascular risk factors strongly associated with risk of coronary artery disease. In addition to lifestyle and environmental factors, blood lipid levels are under tighter genetic control than the related CVD. In fact, genome-wide association scan (GWASs) studies show that comorbid traits such as dyslipidaemia and abdominal obesity are more strongly controlled by genetic factors than their related diseases. Recent study discovered that genetic polymorphism involved in the regulation of gene expression at chromosome 1p13 loci can affect the expression of sortilin 1 and thus the serum level of blood lipid-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). This change in the serum LDL-C level conferred a significantly increased risk of CVD. This study emphasizes that GWASs can offer novel insight into the complex pathophysiology of human diseases that might translate into new approaches to personalized medicine for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CVD.