page_title: Cancer pharmacogenomics
hierarchical_section_title: Cancer pharmacogenomics
caption_attribution_description: English: Aspects of cancer pharmacogenomics include the consideration of the tumor genome and the germline genome
context_page_description: Cancer pharmacogenomics is the study of how variances in the genome influences an individual’s response to different cancer drug treatments. It is a subset of the broader field of pharmacogenomics, which is the area of study aimed at understanding how genetic variants influence drug efficacy and toxicity.
  Cancer is a genetic disease where changes to genes can cause cells to grow and divide out of control. Each cancer can have a unique combination of genetic mutations, and even cells within the same tumour may have different genetic changes. In clinical settings, it has commonly been observed that the same types and doses of treatment can result in substantial differences in efficacy and toxicity across patients. Thus, the application of pharmacogenomics within the field of cancer can offer key advantages for personalizing cancer therapy, minimizing treatment toxicity, and maximizing treatment efficacy. This can include choosing drugs that target specific mutations within cancer cells, identifying patients at risk for severe toxicity to a drug, and identifying treatments that a patient is most likely to benefit from.
context_section_description: Cancer pharmacogenomics is the study of how variances in the genome influences an individual’s response to different cancer drug treatments. It is a subset of the broader field of pharmacogenomics, which is the area of study aimed at understanding how genetic variants influence drug efficacy and toxicity.
  Cancer is a genetic disease where changes to genes can cause cells to grow and divide out of control. Each cancer can have a unique combination of genetic mutations, and even cells within the same tumour may have different genetic changes. In clinical settings, it has commonly been observed that the same types and doses of treatment can result in substantial differences in efficacy and toxicity across patients. Thus, the application of pharmacogenomics within the field of cancer can offer key advantages for personalizing cancer therapy, minimizing treatment toxicity, and maximizing treatment efficacy. This can include choosing drugs that target specific mutations within cancer cells, identifying patients at risk for severe toxicity to a drug, and identifying treatments that a patient is most likely to benefit from. Applying pharmacogenomics within cancer has considerable differences compared to other complex diseases, as there are two genomes that need to be considered - the germline and the tumour. The germline genome considers inter-individual inherited genetic variations, and the tumour genome considers any somatic mutations that accrue as a cancer evolves. The accumulation of somatic mutations within the tumour genome represents variation in disease, and plays a major role in understanding how individuals will respond to treatments. Additionally, the germline genome affects toxicity reactions to a specific treatment due to its influence on drug exposure. Specifically, pharmacokinetic genes participate in the inactivation and elimination of active compounds.  Therefore, differences within the germline genome should also be considered.
caption: Aspects of cancer pharmacogenomics include the consideration of the tumor genome and the germline genome to make better decisions on cancer treatment.
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