Pharmacogenetic Testing
The right drug, for the right patient, at the right dose. Researchers estimate that commonly prescribed drugs may not work in up to 60% of patients. 1
It has been estimated that more than 770,000 people are injured or die each year in hospitals from adverse drug reactions (ADRs), costing millions of dollars in healthcare costs each year. 2 The field of genomic medicine presents one potential solution to reduce health care costs associated with ADRs and poor response to pharmacotherapy.
Specifically, the field of pharmacogenetics involves using a patient’s genetic makeup in combination with other clinical information to create a personalized medication regimen with greater efficacy and safety for the individual patient. Many medications currently prescribed have pharmacogenetic data to support appropriate dosing or selection. In addition, pharmacogenetic analyses are routinely performed during drug development. 3
Why Conduct a Pharmacogenetic Test?
Simplicity. A simple saliva test can evaluate an individual’s ability to metabolize or process drugs. Pain medications such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, diazepam and morphine utilize the CYP2D6 enzyme in order to metabolize the drug. As a drug gets metabolized, it is broken down into harmless pieces and eventually cleared. The activity of your clearance system is based on your genetic code. Once tested, this knowledge about an individual’s unique drug metabolizing system can help guide physicians.
What's the Purpose of a Pharmacogenetic Test?
Physicians would like to be able to anticipate how one may respond to a drug instead of relying on a trial-and-error process. By knowing the specific way one may break-down drugs, a physician can tailor treatment according to an individual’s unique metabolism and immediately find the right drug. Not only will this information help physicians predict which drug will best treat pain, a physician will also be able to predict the effective dose and potential for toxicity. In theory, this knowledge has the potential to save time, money and lives.
Pharmacogenetic testing, specifically, is exceedingly important for the proper management of pain because finding the precise drug and dose for each patient is so critically important. The groundbreaking development of PGX testing provides more individualized drug treatment for patients while also reducing adverse effects.
1 Wilkinson GR. Drug metabolism and variability among patients in drug response. N Engl J Med 2005;352:2211-21.
2 Classen et al. 1997; Lazarou et al. 1998
3 Liou et al. 2012
Percentage of patients for whom drugs are ineffective. Spear, B.B., Heath-Chiozzi, M., & Huff, J. (2001). Clinical application of pharmacogenetics. TRENDS in Molecular Medicine, 7(5), 201-204.)