Medicine 4P

Thanks to technological progress and the development of new scientific domains, medicine evolved rapidly in the past two decades. Against this background we have witnessed the advent of a novel concept, the 4P medicine (which stands for Personalized, Predictive, Preventive and Participative) – a brand new way of caring for one’s health.

Corina Cristea, 13.03.2026, 14:00

The Personalized medicine implies the idea of adjusting the treatment and therapeutic strategies to the individual characteristics of every patient. These may include genetic factors, the way of life, the environment and medical past.

At present, progress in the field of Medical Genetics and the whole genome sequencing allow doctors to identify the genetic variations, which influence the risk of disease or the response to various drugs and in this way, treatments can be adjusted.

In turn, the Predictive Medicine aims at forecasting the risk of illness appearance right before they start manifesting clinically. Using instruments, such as genetic testing, the analysis of biomarkers, algorithms of artificial intelligence or big volumes of medical data, experts can estimate the probability of developing some diseases, such as breast cancer or Alzheimer, allowing for early measures of monitoring or intervention.

Then, the Preventive Medicine is focusing on the prevention of illnesses through early interventions and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. It includes programmes of screening, vaccination, education and monitoring risk factors. A well-known example is the prevention of cardiovascular diseases through monitoring the risk factors, such as higher blood pressure, obesity or a sedentary lifestyle.

Last but not least, the Participative Medicine relies on the active involvement of the patient in the process of healthcare. Digital technologies, such as health applications, instruments of monitoring and the platform of tele-medicine are facilitating this participation, while through the access to information and own medical data, patients can make more qualified decisions on their lifestyle and treatment.

In short, the 4P Medicine is a model, which entails a major paradigm shift: from treating illnesses after their first manifest to forecasting and preventing them.

Here is PhD Cristina Berteanu, Intensive Care Physician with more.

Cristina Berteanu: “This means the health state becomes a dynamic concept and, according to the WHO definition, it represents a good physical and mental state, not only reaction to some illnesses, but the preservation of the quality of life through medical education, which means that one doesn’t have to wait for symptoms to appear but take action against the causes and get involved in the treatment. Diagnosis, the equipment used and methods of treatment have made a significant headway but the difference is being made by the diagnostic itself. This stage is very important as this is where the difference between us and other countries in the EU or Japan, South Korea and the United States is made, as the period of survival in these countries can reach up to 74% in the case of an oncological disease, whereas in Romania it is somewhere around 34%.” One of the saddest things is that many patients visit the physician when it is already too late. Out of fear, shame, or lack of trust, they are missing that period when the disease can be successfully treated. According to experts, if the intervention is done in the early stages of the disease, the successful treatment rate at least in oncological cases, reaches up to 90%, whereas procrastination or the lack of a diagnostic may lead to a fourth degree stage, where chances to get cured are 10% or even less.”

A good diagnostic at the right time can make the difference, says physician Cristina Berteanu recalling that the medicine based on genomics and personalized treatments is making spectacular progress and the new technologies are game changers bringing more chances of survival and a higher quality to life.

Cristina Berteanu: “It is the type of medicine done at the right time and from the early stages. It also offers the most appropriate treatment to the respective patient according to their genotype and phenotype. It is a radical change in terms of the results of the treatment. For instance, in oncology – the immunotherapy, which has a completely different way of action, as compared to chemotherapy – is actually boosting the patient’s immune system and the side effects are minimal, as it takes action only against tumor cells. It targets directly these cells following some genetic tests conducted under a certain diagnostic. As physician Cristina Berteanu says, if, for instance, immunotherapy is administered in the cases of lung cancer, which used to be fatal a couple of years ago, nowadays there are patients who may survive and enjoy life.

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