ABSTRACT
There is great heterogeneity in the way humans respond to medications, often requiring empirical strategies to define the appropriate drug therapy for each patient. Genetic polymorphisms in drug metabolizing enzymes, transporters, receptors, and other drug targets provide putative markers for predicting which patients will experience extreme toxicity and treatment failure. Both quantitative (allele frequency) and qualitative (specific allele) dif ferences for polymorphic genes have been observed between different population groups. For example, the frequency of altered function variants in the membrane transporter ABCB1 is higher in African and African American populations than European-derived populations. The wide-ranging degree of admixture of African, European, and other ancestral genome structure makes the African American population of particular interest in applying genetics to allow for comprehensive strategies for using the genome to optimize therapy for patients.
