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literature of 125 drugs used in oncology, more than half of the drugs (55%) did not have pharmacogenomics
[61]
data while only 12 of those which did, had actionable associations . Understanding the pharmacogenetics
of ASNase can help refining treatment strategies for other cancers in which asparagine and/or glutamine
depletion can be indicated, such as in subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia, sarcomas, pancreatic and ovarian
malignancies [62-65] .

Given the recent breakthroughs in biotechnology allowing for increasingly shorter rendering time and lower
costs of genotyping and sequencing services, pharmacogenetics will continue to flourish as more complex
analyses will be feasible. This will enrich the pool of validated genetic markers that can predict the risk and
outcome of a particular treatment and will make it possible to move away from the less-than-optimal trial-
and-error approach to dosing, towards the implementation of PGx to guide a treatment that is tailored to the
genetics of each individual.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Charles Bruneau Foundation for the constant support. Krajinovic
M currently holds grants from Cancer Research Society and the Network of Applied Medical Genetics
(RMGA). Abaji R is a scholar of the Cole Foundation and the RMGA and acknowledges the support of both
organizations.

Authors’ contributions
Conducted the literature review and drafted the article: Abaji R
Revised the manuscript: Krajinovic M

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
None.

Conflicts of interest
Both authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019.

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