Clinical Case Reports as a Tool for Advancing Personalized Medicine: Is this real?

Abstract

Personalized medicine recognizes that diseases manifest and respond to treatment differently in each patient. While large trials provide general evidence, they often miss real-world variability. Case reports, long considered low-level evidence, are vital for documenting rare diseases, atypical presentations, and unique therapeutic responses that inform individualized care. Historically, case reports have led to major discoveries, embracing variability to reveal new mechanisms. In rare diseases, each report can serve as an “N-of-1” study, while in common conditions they help identify unusual patterns, reduce misdiagnosis, and define subgroups needing tailored management. They also record exceptional responders, non-responders, and rare adverse effects, advancing pharmacogenomics. Despite their value, challenges include patient privacy, publication bias, and inconsistent quality, which require robust consent and adherence to CARE guidelines. Future integration into searchable databases and AI analysis could amplify their impact, confirming that case reports remain central to the precision medicine era.