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Moving towards individualized medicine with pharmacogenomics

Nature volume 429, pages 464–468 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Individuals respond differently to drugs and sometimes the effects are unpredictable. Differences in DNA that alter the expression or function of proteins that are targeted by drugs can contribute significantly to variation in the responses of individuals. Many of the genes examined in early studies were linked to highly penetrant, single-gene traits, but future advances hinge on the more difficult challenge of elucidating multi-gene determinants of drug response. This intersection of genomics and medicine has the potential to yield a new set of molecular diagnostic tools that can be used to individualize and optimize drug therapy.

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Figure 1: Identifying genes influencing polygenic drug responses.
Figure 2: Evidence linking candidate gene polymorphisms to phenotypes can come from several sources. The matrix in the centre shows candidate genes that may be related to the phenotypes of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, 38105, Tennessee, USA

    William E. Evans & Mary V. Relling

  2. University of Tennessee Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine, and the Pharmacogenetics of Anticancer Agents Research Group, Chicago, Illinois

    William E. Evans & Mary V. Relling

  3. Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    William E. Evans & Mary V. Relling

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  2. Mary V. Relling
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Competing interests

W.E.E. is an inventor on a US patent for the molecular diagnosis of TPMT non-functional alleles. He receives no direct remuneration for royalties, and freely provides protocols and reagents for research purposes.

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Evans, W., Relling, M. Moving towards individualized medicine with pharmacogenomics. Nature 429, 464–468 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02626

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