Will Precision Medicine Move Us beyond Race?

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 374; no. 21; pp. 2003 - 2005
• Main Authors: Bonham, Vence L, Callier, Shawneequa L, Royal, Charmaine D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 26.05.2016
• Subjects: Continental Population Groups - genetics; Drug Approval; Drug dosages; Drug Therapy; Genetics; Genotypes; Humans; Precision Medicine; Prescription drugs; United States; United States Food and Drug Administration; United States; Hawaii; United States > US
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1511294

Although self-identified race may correlate with geographical ancestry, it does not predict an individual patient's genotype or drug response. Precision medicine may eventually replace the use of race in treatment decisions, but several hurdles will have to be overcome. Health care providers have long struggled with the utility of race in the prescribing and dosing of medications. It is widely accepted that self-identified race often correlates with geographical ancestry, that geographical ancestry is a major determinant of genomic variation, and that genomic variation can influence reactions to drugs. The challenge for clinicians, however, is that self-identified race does not predict the genotype or drug response of an individual patient. Prescribing medications on the basis of race oversimplifies the complexities and interplay of ancestry, health, disease, and drug response. Eventually, precision medicine may revolutionize our understanding of race and its . . .