Identification of treatment response genes

Genetic diversity contributes to both disease susceptibility and variability in response to drug therapy. Pharmacogenomics is a discipline focused on examining the genetic basis for individual variations in response to therapeutics (1-4). Although the task of developing individualized medicines tailored to patient’s genotypes poses a major scientific challenge, pharmacogenomics is already starting to influence how physicians/scientists design clinical trials and its impact on the practice of medicine is forthcoming (5,6). Recent evidence suggests that most prescribed medications are effective in no more than 60% of the individuals in whom they are used, and a significant number of patients also develop major adverse effects. Better understanding of the genetic factors that regulate patient’s responsiveness to drugs is therefore needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved and allow for development of new therapeutic strategies that match each patient and the most suitable drug (7-9).