Sorafenib pathways published in Pharmacogenetics and Genomics

The PharmGKB review of the Sorafenib pathways has been published in the journal Pharmacogenetics and Genomics. Sorafenib (NEXAVAR^®, BAY43-9006) is an oral anti-cancer drug approved for the treatment of metastatic or advanced liver, kidney, and thyroid cancers.  Although many new targeted therapies have been tested over the past decade, sorafenib remains the standard of care for these diseases due to its modest efficacy and acceptable tolerability. In this review, we discuss the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of sorafenib and highlight genetic variations that may contribute to the diverse pharmacological responses to sorafenib. 

Find out more...

View interactive pathways on PharmGKB:
Sorafenib Pharmacokinetics Pathway
Sorafenib Pharmacodynamics Pathway

Read our new publication:

PharmGKB summary: Sorafenib Pathways

Pharmacogenet Genomics. 2017 Mar 30

Gong Li, Giacomini Marilyn M, Giacomini Craig, Maitland Michael L, Altman Russ B, Klein Teri E

PMID: 28362716

View all pathways on PharmGKB.

NIGMS Director’s Early Career Investigator Lecture on antiretrovirals, PGx

On Wednesday, April 5th at 2:00 PM EST the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) will broadcast the NIGMS Director’s Early Career Investigator Lecture featuring a talk by Dr. Namandjé N. Bumpus entitled “Drug Metabolism, Pharmacogenetics and the Quest to Personalize HIV Treatment and Prevention”. In it, she will discuss her work on the factors that impact metabolism and distribution of antiretrovirals and their effect on outcomes in HIV-positive individuals. Dr. Bumpus’ research attempts to integrate a mechanistic understanding of the metabolism and distribution of antiretrovirals in cells and tissues in order to enable the prediction of patient response. Dr. Bumpus is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as an associate editor of the journal Drug Metabolism and Disposition. 

The video cast of the lecture may be accessed below:

https://www.nigms.nih.gov/News/meetings/Pages/2017-eci.aspx

Variant and clinical annotations for antiretrovirals used in HIV treatment are available at PharmGKB. Curated pathways are also available for the following: 

• efavirenz 
• tenofovir 
• lamivudine 
• nevirapine 
• zidovudine 
• abacavir 
• nevirapine

Pharmacogenetically-guided dosing and prescribing guidelines for abacavir and atazanavir are both available at cpicpgx.org and PharmGKB.

New Paper shows pharmacogenetic testing drastically reduces ER visits and Readmissions

A new paper published in PLOSOne (Clinical impact of pharmacogenetic profiling with a clinical decision support tool in polypharmacy home health patients: A prospective pilot randomized controlled trial by Lindsay S. Elliott et al.) shows the effectiveness of precision medicine. For a year the authors followed a set of eligible patients aged 50 and over to see whether genetic testing was able to reduce hospital visits and readmissions. The testing looked at variants affecting drug responses in several pharmacogenomic genes such as CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A4, CYP3A5 and VKORC1, and monitored the patients phenotypes and medications. Recommendations were made to clinicians with the YouScript Clinical Decision Support Tool, and prescriptions were then altered at clinician’s discretion. The study showed a dramatic reduction; ER visits were reduced by 71%, while readmissions were reduced by 39%, when compared to a control group. This shows the usefulness of pharmacogenetics in a clinical setting.


You can read more about the genes listed above on PharmGKB (https://www.pharmgkb.org/) and the CPIC guidelines cited by this article at the CPIC website (cpicpgx.org).