PHARMACOGENETICS – THE FUTURE OF THE DRUG THERAPY

Individual variation in response to drugs is an important clinical problem, which ranges from failure to respond to a drug to adverse drug reactions. Medical therapy still aims at the broadest patient population that might possibly benefit from it, relying on statistical analysis of this population's response for predicting therapeutic outcome. Yet, certain percentage of patients will obtain no benefit from a given drug, or will experience toxicity. Pharmacogenetics, which deals with the genetic basis underlying variable drug response, offers the potential of individualizing drug therapy, and through optimizing efficacy and minimizing toxicity it increases the possibility for a wide range of diseases to be cured and controlled