Pharmacogenomics: Precision Pharmacy in 503A Compounding.

The first recorded mention of a pharmacogenomic response may be that of Pythagoras in 510 BC, when he noted that hemolytic anemia developed in some but not all people who ingested fava beans. The application of such accounts to pharmacotherapy was inevitable, and customized medications have been compounded since antiquity to treat the needs of individual patients. Today, advances in pharmacogenomic testing yield results that enable more effective targeted therapies sooner in the course of treatment, prevent drug-related adverse effects, save cost, and ensure a better therapeutic outcome. The value of such testing is now more widely accepted, even in the public domain. It is our opinion that third-party payors will realize, to an increasing degree, that this new technology will save them money and will pay for it. Because independent compounding pharmacists have trusted relationships with patients and are convenient to visit, they are well placed to offer certain types of pharmacogenomic tests to patients and prescribers. In this article, topics that we address include the difference between pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics; the use of pharmacogenomic testing in 503A compounding; the benefits of such tests for patients, prescribers, and compounders; and suggestions for marketing pharmacogenomics testing. Information about a course that introduces pharmacogenomic science to compounders is provided, and suggestions for additional reading and other resources about pharmacogenomic testing are included for easy reference.

Prospective of colon cancer treatments and scope for combinatorial approach to enhanced cancer cell apoptosis.

Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the western world. It is also the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States with a recent estimate for new cases of colorectal cancer in the year 2012 being around 103,170. Various risk factors for colorectal cancer include life-style, diet, age, personal and family history, and racial and ethnic background. While a few cancers are certainly preventable but this does not hold true for colon cancer as it is often detected in its advanced stage and generally not diagnosed until symptoms become apparent. Despite the fact that several options are available for treating this cancer through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and nutritional-supplement therapy, but the success rates are not very encouraging when used alone where secondary complications appear in almost all these therapies. To maximize the therapeutic-effects in patients, combinatorial approaches are essential. In this review we have discussed the therapies previously and currently available to patients diagnosed with colorectal-cancer, focus on some recent developments in basic research that has shaded lights on new therapeutic-concepts utilizing macrophages/dendritic cells, natural killer cells, gene delivery, siRNA-, and microRNA-technology, and specific-targeting of tyrosine kinases that are either mutated or over-expressed in the cancerous cell to treat these cancer. Potential strategies are discussed where these concepts could be applied to the existing therapies under a comprehensive approach to enhance the therapeutic effects.