Single nucleotide polymorphism in ABCG2 is associated with irinotecan-induced severe myelosuppression

Irinotecan is an anti-neoplastic agent that is widely used for treating colorectal and lung cancers, but often causes toxicities such as severe myelosuppression and diarrhea. In this study, we performed a two-stage case-control association study for irinotecan-induced severe myelosuppression (grades 3 and 4). In the first stage, 23 patients who developed severe myelosuppression and 58 patients who did not develop any toxicity were examined for 170 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 14 genes involved in the metabolism and transport of irinotecan. A total of five SNPs were identified to show the possible association with severe myelosuppression (P(Fisher)