Abstract
Pharmacogenomics—defined as the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs—is growing in importance for clinical care. Many medications have evidence and drug labeling related to pharmacogenomics and patient care. New evidence supports the use of pharmacogenomics in clinical settings, and genetic testing may optimize medication selection and dosing. Despite these advantages, the integration of pharmacogenomics into clinical decisions remains variable and challenging in certain practice settings. To ensure consistent application across settings, sufficient education amongst current and future healthcare providers is necessary to further integrate pharmacogenomics into routine clinical practice. This review highlights current evidence supporting clinical application of medications with pharmacogenomic labeling. The secondary objective is to review current strategies for educating health professionals and student trainees. One national organization predicts that most regions in the United States will soon contain at least one healthcare system capable of applying pharmacogenomic information. Applying genotype-guided dosing to several FDA-approved medications may help produce beneficial changes in patient outcomes. Identifying best practices for educating health care professionals and trainees remains vitally important for continuing growth of pharmacogenomic services. As pharmacogenomics continues to expand into more areas of healthcare, current and future practitioners must pursue and maintain competence in pharmacogenomics to ensure better outcomes for patients.
Highlights
Pharmacogenomics (PGx)—the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs—is a growing area in pharmacy and clinical practice [1]. These changes occur with differences in metabolism or elimination of medications due to a particular drug–gene interaction
Drug–drug–gene interactions can include a second medication that causes an effect on metabolism or elimination of the primary drug
A second trial was conducted for a subgroup of patients from the original study (~70% patients) who were taking medications with gene–drug interactions and who were most likely to benefit from clinical application of pharmacogenomics [9]
Summary
Pharmacogenomics (PGx)—the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs—is a growing area in pharmacy and clinical practice [1] Often, these changes occur with differences in metabolism or elimination of medications due to a particular drug–gene interaction. In addition to classic pharmacogenomic markers associated with metabolizing enzymes and other germline variations, many of the recent entries cover companion tests for oncology-related medications These genetic tests for somatic mutations are often required for drug selection and/or dosing of cancer treatments. Optimal integration of PGx will require health care professionals who are adequately prepared to manage patients’ drug regimens based on traditional clinical information and genetic test results. The recent expansion of educational programs provided to pharmacists and other health care professionals helps enhance competency in PGx. This review will identify current evidence related to pharmacogenomics and the associated clinical outcomes from several studies across multiple settings. The review will summarize some of the latest trends used to educate student pharmacists and licensed pharmacists in the area of pharmacogenomics
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