Pharmacogenomics of importance for paclitaxel chemotherapy.

Paclitaxel (Taxol) has a broad activity spectrum and is clinically used, often in combination with carboplatin, to treat breast, ovarian and lung cancer. The response to treatment and the severity of adverse drug reactions after chemotherapy varies greatly among individuals, and one of the most important factors responsible for these differences is now recognized to be the genetic variability. However, so far only genetic variants of ABCB1 have been indicated to be associated with response and pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel. Commercially, the patent on paclitaxel has expired; however, from a healthcare perspective, it would be beneficial to identify patients with risk of poor response or high risk of toxicity to reduce hospitalization costs. This article focuses on the pharmacogenomic background for paclitaxel response and interindividual variability.