title: Pharmacogenetics: from description to prediction.
abstract: Many of the complexities of human drug response are sufficiently well understood to transform the field of pharmacogenetics from a descriptive science to a predictive science. Clinical application of these markers is currently limited by lack of knowledge about the effects of modifying genes, about their prevalence and risk contribution in different ethnogeographic populations, and by fragmentary information about how genetic factors interact with physiologic or pathologic and other environmental factors. Nevertheless, progress has been notable, as exemplified in the identification of genetic markers predictive of pharmacokinetic variation, and in markers predictive of outcome and therapeutic benefit in the treatment of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan Medical School, 1301BMSRB III, 1150 West Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5632, USA. wwweber@umich.edu
authors.forename: Wendell W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D005819:Genetic Markers; D023281:Genomics; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics; D010597:Pharmacogenetics / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D010599:Pharmacokinetics; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers