Breast cancer pharmacogenetics: a systematic review

Abstract

Breast cancer was declared the most prevalent type of cancer in 2020. Among other factors, treatment response can be affected by genetic polymorphisms – which is the focus of pharmacogenetics – and ethnicity is also a contributing factor in this context. Relevant genes in disease treatment pathways were selected to evaluate treatment response from the pharmacogenetic perspective; polymorphism frequencies and ethnic and continental representation across the available literature were also assessed through a systematic review. The identified associations and gaps have been described in this study with the purpose that, in the future, treatments can be personalized and thus be more effective, safer, and accessible to all.