Toxicogenomics Application to Oncology Drug Development

Toxicogenomics tries to evaluate the toxicity and safety of chemical compounds by analyzing gene expression changes detected by measuring mRNA levels using DNA microarrays. The measurement of gene expression levels upon exposure to toxicants can give information about the mechanism of action of the toxic compound, and also predict the toxicity of unknown compounds, thus providing a valuable tool in the investigation of lead compounds for drug development. There are already also a few examples of its use to identify safety issues of drugs that were not evident from preclinical studies. Gene expression profiling can also greatly improve cancer treatment by providing predictive markers for drug response, drug resistance, disease prognosis, and guide physicians in the use of chemotherapeutics. One of the major issues facing this field is the quality and the comparability of the experimental data acquired using different technological platforms, together with the public accessibility of the toxicological data. The formation of international consortia would probably be the most effective way forward to provide the critical mass of high quality, highly annotated, gene expression data in the public domain. Toxicogenomics and gene expression profiling technologies have the potential to provide safer and more specific drugs and also to make available more effective and personalized treatments to oncology patients.

LETTIERI Teresa;  CALZOLAI Luigi; 

2009-09-17

Humana Press

JRC35560

978-1-58829-646-7,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC35560,   

10.1007/978-1-60327-088-5_20,