“We’ve seen it save lives…that’s made me a believer.”
The Tuesday New York Times section “Science Times” has been doing a nice job of keeping up with advances in pharmacogenetics. This Tuesday’s (August 29, 2006) section includes an interview “Saving lives with Tailor-Made Medication” with Dr. Mary Relling of Memphis’ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Dr. Relling relates that at her hospital “patients with leukemia [Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia] are now routinely given genetic tests to determine their individual response to a medication. ‘We’ve seen it save lives here. That’s made me a believer’”.
The article doesn’t identify the particular medication to which Dr. Relling refers, but I believe it must be methotrexate
Dr. Relling says what many of us proponents of pharmacogenetics have been saying: that a one-size-fits-all approach to medications can cause problems. “In most cases,” she says, “an average dose of medication is ordered, and then, if the patient suffers side effects, the dosage is adjusted. With gene testing, we can customize the prescription.”
“At the moment, there seems to be a lot of promise for pharmacogenetics in the treatment of arthritis, heart disease, colon cancer and even psychiatric diseases like depression and schizophrenia.”
Article highly recommended. Check it out!
Technorati Tags: pharmacogenetics, oncology, leukemia
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