Salah M. Blaih

Cancer biomarkers are expressed as a result of the development and progression of the disease. These biomarkers are most relevant for identifying patients who are likely to benefit from a given treatment (right drug for the right patient). This approach should be utilized in cancer drug development as well as measuring patient’s response to therapy. Some examples of these targeted therapy and their associated design/discovery are discussed: trastuzumab (Herceptin®) for treatment of breast cancer with HER2 overexpression; the tyrosine kinase inhibitors imatinib (Gleevec®) and nilotinib (Tasigna®), for treatment of BCR-ABL gene expression of Ph+ chronic myeloid leukaemia; vemurefenib (Zelboraf) in cases of melanoma with BRAF mutation; panitumumab (Vectibix®) and cetuximab (Erbitux®) therapy of K-Ras mutation-negative (wild-type), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing, metastatic colorectal cancer. Pharmacogenetic data related to cancer therapy are also presented. Risks of developing severe, life-threatening toxicities of thiopurine (hematopoietic/ myelosuppression, TPMT*3A/*3C variants); the topoisomerase I inhibitor irinotecan (severe/fatal neutropenia, UGT1A1*28 allele); and the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor Nilotinib (hyperbilirubinemia, UGT1A1*28 allele) are shown.