HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an electronic Letter to the Editor about this paper Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Valdes, R. Articles by Linder, M. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Valdes, R., Jr Articles by Linder, M. W. Related Collections Molecular Diagnostics and Genetics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology

Fine-Tuning Pharmacogenetics: Paradigm for Linking Laboratory Results to Clinical Action

¹ University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40202

^aAuthor for correspondence.

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Pharmacogenetics (PGx) is the study of the relationship between gene-based markers and pharmacology as it relates to the processing and/or function of drugs. The clinical utility of PGx is embodied principally in the ability to predict either the most appropriate dosing of a medicine or the selection of a particular medicine for a given individual. This expectation has led to the concept of "personalized medicine". Although the science and clinical application of PGx seem to be rapidly converging, the horizon remains a bit fuzzy, partly because the evidence needed to establish its clinical application to patient care is just now beginning to surface.

The clinical laboratory is the principal vehicle for providing PGx testing services to the medical community (1). These services include providing access to the testing, selecting appropriate testing profiles, and among other responsibilities, providing the evidence required to formulate decisions on medical applications (2). From this perspective, advances in laboratory medicine, as with most medical disciplines, are typically achieved in incremental steps. Each step provides a basis on which to build consensus for accepting a standard for the practice. Often however, new information gets substantially ahead of the commonly accepted medical practice and an element of confusion, perhaps driven by high expectations, sets in. To avoid this dilemma, a reasonable strategy must be developed to establish pathways for . . . [Full Text of this Article]