Results of the seventh scientific workshop of ECCO : precision medicine in IBD : challenges and future directions

Abstract

This edition of the Journal of Crohn's and Colitis presents three state-of-the-art reviews from the 7th ECCO Scientific Workshop, ‘Precision Medicine in Inflammatory Bowel Disease’. These papers describe the need for individual disease stratification by factors including clinical phenotype or molecular signatures [or both] while considering current and required predictive tools, the importance of identifying higher risk populations, the crucial need for academic–industry collaborations, and the process of implementing precision medicine in varying healthcare systems globally. Although precision medicine primarily describes individualized healthcare, it also aims to limit unnecessary healthcare expenditure, which is particularly challenging in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the disease.