Pharmacogenetics of Anticancer Drugs: Clinical Response and Toxicity

Cancer is the most challenging disease for medical professionals to treat. The factors underlying the complicated situation include anticancer drug-associated toxicity, non-specific response, low therapeutic window, variable treatment outcomes, development of drug resistance, treatment complications, and cancer recurrence. The remarkable advancement in biomedical sciences and genetics, over the past few decades, however, is changing the dire situation. The discovery of gene polymorphism, gene expression, biomarkers, particular molecular targets and pathways, and drug-metabolizing enzymes have paved the way for the development and provision of targeted and individualized anticancer treatment. Pharmacogenetics is the study of genetic factors having the potential to affect clinical responses and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic behaviors of drugs. This chapter emphasizes pharmacogenetics of anticancer drugs and its applications in improving treatment outcomes, selectivity, toxicity of the drugs, and discovering and developing personalized anticancer drugs and genetic methods for prediction of drug response and toxicity.