[Challenge in genome-wide association study for establishment of personalized medicine: focusing on the pharmacogenomics of warfarin and carbamazepine].

Drug efficacies and adverse drug reactions(ADRs) are often unpredictable, owing to the fact that responses to drugs vary among different individuals; however, it is believed that applying knowledge of pharmacogenomics (PGx) in clinical treatment can help to improve the prediction of drug responses, leading to the establishment of personalized medicine that aims to provide the right drug at the appropriate dose for each individual patient. In recent years, the FDA has recommended the genotyping of polymorphisms in drug-metabolizing enzymes and HLA prior to drug administration to avoid severe ADRs to many drugs, such as carbamazepine and abacavir. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) is useful to identify genomic biomarkers that can predict the efficacy or risk of ADRs to various drugs. In order to apply genomic biomarkers to clinical therapeutics, prospective clinical trials will be necessary to evaluate an intervention based on genetic tests.