“…Hence, better molecular markers to identify patients at risk for complications, including severe diarrhea, as well as to predict clinical response would be helpful to patients and medical oncologists. Currently, pharmacogenetic data suggest that the UGT1A1*28/*28 genotype confers the highest risk of severe neutropenia due to increased exposure to SN-38 (Ando et al, 2000;Iyer et al, 2002;Innocenti et al, 2004;Marcuello et al, 2004;Mathijssen et al, 2004;Rouits et al, 2004;de Jong et al, 2006;Massacesi et al, 2006;McLeod et al, 2006;Pillot et al, 2006;Toffoli et al, 2006;Cote et al, 2007;Hoskins et al, 2007;Kweekel et al, 2008;Ruzzo et al, 2008;Glimelius et al, 2011). Our current study confirms that this genotype is associated with an increased risk of severe neutropenia but in univariate analyses only, whereas a more comprehensive analysis of variations at the UGT1A locus suggests that other markers in the central region of the gene and in the 39UTR region might better predict this toxicity.…”