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Shek et al. Cancer Drug Resist 2019;2:69-81 Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/cdr.2018.20 Drug Resistance

Review Open Access

Pharmacogenetics of anticancer monoclonal
antibodies

Dmitrii Shek , Scott A. Read , Golo Ahlenstiel 1,2,3 , Irina Piatkov 3
1,2
1
1 Blacktown Clinical School, Western Sydney University, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia.
2 Storr Liver Centre, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145,
Australia.
3 Blacktown Hospital, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia.

Correspondence to: Dr. Irina Piatkov, Blacktown Hospital, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia.
E-mail: irina.piatkov@health.nsw.gov.au

How to cite this article: Shek D, Read SA, Ahlenstiel G, Piatkov I. Pharmacogenetics of anticancer monoclonal antibodies.
Cancer Drug Resist 2019;2:69-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cdr.2018.20

Received: 31 Oct 2018 First Decision: 11 Nov 2018 Revised: 9 Jan 2019 Accepted: 19 Feb 2018 Published: 19 Mar 2019

Science Editor: Enrico Mini Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Pharmacogenetics is the study of therapeutic and adverse responses to drugs based on an individual’s genetic
background. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are a rapidly evolving field in cancer therapy, however a number of newly
developed and highly effective mAbs (e.g., anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1) possess pharmacogenomic profiles that remain
largely undefined. Since the first chemotherapeutic mAb Rituximab was approved in 1997 by the US Food and Drug
Administration for cancer treatment, a broad number of other mAbs have been successfully developed and implemented
into oncological practice. Nowadays, mAbs are considered as one of the most promising new approaches for cancer
treatment. The efficacy of mAb treatment can however be significantly affected by genetic background, where genes
responsible for antibody presentation and metabolism, for example, can seriously affect patient outcome. This review
will focus on current anticancer mAb treatments, patient genetics that shape their efficacy, and the molecular pathways
that bridge the two.

Keywords: Pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics, immune-checkpoint proteins, monoclonal antibodies, cancer
immunotherapy, personalized medicine

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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