Breast Cancer Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of inheritance in individual variation in drug response. The therapy of breast cancer, particularly endocrine therapy, offers striking examples of the potential value of pharmacogenomics – to help maximize drug efficacy, to avoid adverse drug reactions and to enhance our understanding of drug effects and side effects. The endocrine therapy of breast cancer, either by blockade of the estrogen receptor with SERMS such as tamoxifen or by preventing the synthesis of estrogens with aromatase inhibitors, was a major advance in the treatment of this disease. There have been num…