Key issues and solutions for implementing pharmacogenetics
Interindividual variation in drug metabolism is a complicating factor which affects drug therapy. Even with the standard drug dose it can cause adverse reactions in some patients or fails to work properly for others. Adverse drug reactions are responsible for 7% of hospitalizations and are the 5th cause of death. Additionally, only 25-60% of drugs are effective. Part of this interindividual variation in drug response can be predicted by a simple DNA analysis: pharmacogenetics. A prominent role in this are cytochrome P450 enzymes (e.g. 2D6, 2C19), which are involved in the metabolism of 80% of all drugs.
Knowledge about the genetic make-up of a patient enables dose adjustment prior to starting therapy, thereby decreasing adverse drug reactions and increasing effectivity of therapy, benefitting the patient, health care provider and society. Currently, the FDA has included pharmacogenetic information in the drug label of over 100 drugs. However, translation of this knowledge into routine patient care is going much slower than anticipated, although there is currently an exponential increase in test requests.
This webinar will address the key issues, solutions and remaining challenges in implementing pharmacogenetics into clinical practice, based on Prof. R.H.N. van Schaik's 10 years hands on experience at the International (IFCC) Reference Center Pharmacogenetics at the Dept Clinical Chemistry at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. For genotyping, the Luminex xTAG CYP2D6 is used as one of the key assays to simultaneous detect and identify the most frequent nucleotide variants in the CYP2D6 gene using a bead based liquid array technology. The genotyping assay is aimed as an aid to clinicians in determining therapeutic strategy for therapeutics that are metabolized by the CYP2D6 gene product in Psychiatry, Cardiology and Pain therapy. Also the xTAG CYP2C19 assay is used as a means to guide therapy in Psychiatry and Cardiology.
To understand and learn from clinical practice examples on pharmacogenetic testing in clinical practice, please register for this webinar.
Presented by
Prof. Dr. R.H.N. van Schaik, PhD,
Professor in Pharmacogenetics, Department of Clinical Chemistry
Ron H.N. van Schaik, PhD is a registered European Specialist Laboratory Medicine (2003) and Full Professor Pharmacogenetics (2013). He is working at the department of Clinical Chemistry (AKC) at the Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) in Rotterdam since 1998. He studied chemistry at Utrecht University (specializations Biochemistry, Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Biology) and received his PhD in 1992. He was trained in molecular biology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York. From 1992, he worked as post-doc at the Erasmus University (Dept. Endocrinology & Reproduction) and the Academic Hospital Rotterdam (Dept. Pathology, Dept. Clinical Chemistry) on translational research involving molecular biological testing. Currently, he is head of the AKC unit Specialized Research & Development (BO&O) and of the Pharmacogenetics Core Laboratory AKC.
Prof. van Schaik leads a research group on pharmacogenetics, in which the translation to implementation for patient diagnostics is the main topic. Current lines of research include Transplantation/immunosuppression, Oncology, Psychiatry, Pain treatment, anticoagulation and HIV. He has published over 150 articles on pharmacogenetics, and participates in national (NVKC, KNMP) and international (AACC, IFCC, IATDMCT, ESPT, IUPHAR, EMA) advisory committees on this topic. As a second line of research, he is involved in studies on new markers for the detection of prostate cancer.
In 2001, Dr. van Schaik received the Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Award of the Dutch Society for Clinical Chemistry for outstanding research. In 2008, the Pharmacogenetics Core Laboratory AKC got internationally recognized by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) as a Reference Laboratory for Pharmacogenetics.
