ABSTRACT
In recent times, the field of oncology has seen remarkable progress with respect to the development of a number of chemotherapeutic drugs. Despite such progress, the benefits achieved have been modest at best. The choice of chemotherapeutic agent is often empirical and geared to fit the average patient with the unfortunate result that 40% of patients may be receiving the wrong drug (1). The problem faced is the varied efficacy, ranging from success to failure, and unpredictable treatment-associated toxicity, ranging from no effect to a lethal event, seen with the administration of the same dose of a given anticancer drug to a population of patients with apparently the same malignancy (2).
