Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2008 Nov;51(11):1221-1238.

Prediction of response in chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapy using pharmacogenetics and positron emission tomography

• Kim HS
• Kim JW

Abstract

Standard treatment of cancer is composed of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Although the standard treatment has been available till now, there has been no marked decrease in the incidence of cancer and cancer-related death till now. This fact demonstrates the limitation of the standard treatment for overcoming cancer. Predictive oncology is defined as the method that can identify the difference in drug response and toxicity before treatment, which has developed in the fields of chemotherapy and molecular targeted therapy. Especially, pharmacogenetics and positron emission tomography (PET) are important in predictive oncology. The former shows that drug metabolism affecting response and toxicity may be affected by genetic predisposition, especially genetic polymorphism. The latter evaluates response by use of PET after 1-2 cycle administration of drug and differentiates responders from non-responders among patients with breast, esophagus, lung and rectal cancers. In the near future, individualized treatment that is more effective than the standard treatment will be developed through predictive oncology and be applied in cancer patients for maximizing drug response and minimizing toxicities.

Keyword

Pharmacogenetics; Positron emission tomography; Chemotherapy

MeSH Terms

Breast
Electrons
Esophagus
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Humans
Incidence
Lung
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Pharmacogenetics
Polymorphism, Genetic
Positron-Emission Tomography
Rectal Neoplasms