Joann McKie and Betty Tollison are both 56 and live in Aiken County. And though they faced different problems, both women are benefiting from something doctors have long dreamed about: the ability to tailor medical treatments based on the patient's genetic profile.

After a cancerous lump was discovered in her breast last year, Mrs. McKie was able to avoid chemotherapy when a genetic test showed she was at low risk for a recurrence of the cancer.

"I'm blessed. If I had cancer four years ago, I wouldn't have had (the test) and I would have had chemo," Mrs. McKie said.

Mrs. Tollison had tried for three years to find medications that would help her control her bipolar disorder. Then she underwent genetic testing at the Medical College of Georgia to see whether she had the right genes to produce the two enzymes in the liver that metabolize many psychiatric drugs. The tests showed she wasn't producing the enzymes. So her medications were switched, and "those seem to be effective," she said.

MCG is the first academic health center to use the AmpliChip technology recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to study two key genes involved in producing enzymes for drug metabolism, said Adriana Foster, an assistant professor of psychiatry. Patients who are high metabolizers with lots of enzymes might need a higher dosage, while patients who produce little or no enzyme seem to suffer significant side effects, she said.

"The recommended dose that we would give to most people would make them (sick) because they will not be able to break down the medication; the medication will accumulate in their system," she said.

In an effort to establish guidelines on when to use the test, MCG has a clinical trial for those who have had such significant side effects from antidepressants that they quit taking the drugs, Dr. Foster said.

"The technology is very new, and the cost is very expensive," she said. "Although we would like to see the psychiatric patients screened for their genetic ability to metabolize medications before we even start medications, that is several good years away just because of the cost of the technology."

Ultimately, that would be the dream to tailor each treatment, Dr. Foster said, "and hopefully save patients some side effects, save cost of care, and help people return to their normal function quicker."

That already is happening with some early stage breast cancer patients, who receive the Oncotype DX test, which scans their tumor sample for 21 genes. It then returns a score of 0-100 on the chances the cancer will return within 10 years. Those with a low score, such as Mrs. McKie's 18, wouldn't benefit from chemo and can thus avoid it.

"I don't think of it as science fiction anymore," Mrs. McKie said.

Personalized medicine has long been the goal of Alice David of Augusta Oncology Associates.

"I think this is a big tool for us to really tailor our individualized treatments and just not have everyone go through chemotherapy," she said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.