
Some 95% of people have a gene variant that affects their response to at least one drug.
The stories he hears from patients and their families bring home the impact that these gene-drug interactions can have. It can even have fatal consequences, as one man described to him.
'He told me about his wife, who had breast cancer and underwent surgery. The prognosis was very good. The tumour was removed by the surgeon but, to prevent micro-metastases, his wife had to receive six courses of (chemotherapy drug) fluorouracil. During the second infusion of the drug, the patient collapsed, went to the intensive care unit and died,' he said.
Comment: One wonders when they'll apply this same thinking to vaccines...