The Influence of <i>CYP2B6</i>, <i>GSTP1</i>, and <i>SLCO1B1</i> Star Allele‐Predicted Phenotypes and <i>CBR1</i> Genetic Variants on Effectiveness Outcomes in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving Doxorubicin via Transarterial Chemoemboli

We investigated the influence of CYP2B6, GSTP1, and SLCO1B1 star allele-predicted phenotypes and CBR1 variants on clinical outcomes in patients with HCC receiving DOX via TACE. A prospective cohort of patients with HCC underwent DOX therapy via TACE. Selected genes were genotyped in germline DNA samples from the final cohort (82 patients) via Axiom Precision Medicine Diversity (PMD) Research Array technology. The Kaplan-Meier (KM) method and Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model were employed to find independent clinical and genetic predictors of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) after TACE. Based on univariate and combined association analyses of genetic factors, the star alleles predicting the phenotypic status of three genes (CYP2B6, GSTP1, and SLCO1B1) did not significantly modify the response potential of DOX via TACE, as indicated by OS or PFS. Conversely, we found a novel association between two CBR1 polymorphisms (rs3787728 and rs1005695) and interindividual differences in OS and PFS. The presence of a heterozygous genotype (TC or CG at either locus, which were highly frequent in our cohort), probably with greater CBR metabolic activity, appeared to have an expressive influence by negatively modulating the consequences of DOX locoregional therapy on HCC by shortening the median OS (KM p = 0.02 and 0.04, respectively) and median PFS (KM p = 0.05 and 0.023, respectively) in comparison to those with other haplotypes. Exploratory PGx studies involving a wider HCC cohort and targeting more DOX-related genes are needed to replicate our findings. Trial Registration: NCT06313047 (Study Details | Pharmacogenetic of Doxorubicin in HCC. | clinicaltrials.gov).