Candidate Gene in Predicting In Vivo Ovarian Cancer Response to Combination Therapy with Paraplatin and Paclitaxel

. Adverse drug reactions, due at least in part to interindividual variability in drug response, rank between the 4th and 6th leading causes of death in the U.S. The field of “pharmacogenetics” (the study of variability in drug response due to heredity), should help in reducing drug-caused morbidity and mortality[1]. The underlying genetics for the efficacy of the chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer is still unknown and subject to a high degree of uncertainty and interindividual variability[2]. In the present project, using a pharmacogenomic approach, we evaluate the patient response rates to primary chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer with combination of paclitaxel and the carboplatin agents. In an attempt to define the genetic determinants for this variability, we are conducting a pharmacogenomics study to predict response based on patient genomics[3].