Molecular targets in advanced therapeutics of cancers: The role of pharmacogenetics

Murtala B. Abubakar, Siew Hua Gan

Research output: Contribution to journalReview ArticleOtherpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The advent of advanced molecular targeted therapy has resulted in improved prognoses for patients with advanced malignancies. However, despite the significant success and specificity of this advocated targeted therapy, significant onand off-target adverse effects and inter-individual variability in treatment responses have been reported. The interpatient variability in drug response has been suggested to be partly due to variations in patient genomes. Therefore, the identification of genetic biomarkers by conducting pharmacogenetics studies can help predict patient responses to targeted therapy and may serve as a basis for individualized treatment. In this review, both clinically established and potential molecular targets are highlighted. Overall, current literature suggests that individualization of targeted therapy is promising; however, integrating the clinical benefits of identified biomarkers into clinical practice for personalized medicine remains a major challenge, and further studies to validate these markers and identify novel therapeutic approaches are needed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3-12
Number of pages10
JournalOncology
Volume91
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Advanced therapeutics
  • Molecular targets
  • Pharmacogenetics
  • Targeted therapy

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