title: Methods: for studying pharmacogenetic profiles of combination chemotherapeutic drugs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Molecular and genetic analysis of tumors and individuals has led to patient-centered therapies, through the discovery and identification of genetic markers predictive of drug efficacy and tolerability. Present therapies often include a combination of synergic drugs, each of them directed against different targets. Therefore, the pharmacogenetic profiling of tumor masses and patients is becoming a challenge, and several questions may arise when planning a translational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review presents the different techniques used to stratify oncology patients and to tailor antineoplastic treatments according to individual pharmacogenetic profiling. The advantages of these methodologies are discussed as well as current limits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Facing the rapid technological evolution for genetic analyses, the most pressing issues are the choice of appropriate strategies (i.e., from gene candidate up to next-generation sequencing) and the possibility to replicate study results for their final validation. It is likely that the latter will be the major obstacle in the future. However, the present landscape is opening up new possibilities, overcoming those hurdles that have limited result translation into clinical settings for years.
authors.affiliation: University of Pisa, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Via Roma 55, 56126 Pisa , Italy +39 050 2218755 ; +39 050 2218758 ; antonello.dipaolo@med.unipi.it.
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Paolo
authors.forename: Marialuisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polillo
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lastella
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bocci
authors.forename: Marzia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Del Re
authors.forename: Romano
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Danesi
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D010597:Pharmacogenetics; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods
keywords: combination therapies; next-generation sequencing; oncology; pharmacogenetic profiling