[Biological bases for individualising prescriptions in oncology: the germline genome].

Sequencing the human genome brings new tools for the individualisation of cancer chemotherapy, especially thanks to the identification of polymorphisms of genes involved in anticancer drug metabolism or activity (pharmacogenetics). A few functional polymorphisms have been known for a long time (thiopurine methyltransferase, glutathion S-transferases), but several new ones have been identified recently, at the level of the genes encoding drug targets (thymidylate synthase), at the level of DNA repair enzymes (XPD) or at the level of transport proteins (MDR1). Clinical trials, first on a retrospective basis, then on a prospective one, are implemented to validate this approach.