In contrast to the altered cancer genome, studies analyzing the germline analysis of cancer patients, for the most part, have been largely confined to the pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic (PK/PD) arena, where patients are genotyped for polymorphisms in various drug-metabolizing genes to identify individuals at greatest risk of incurring severe drug toxicities (eg UGT1A1 in irinotecan treatment) [11]. The gene discussed is UGT1A1; the disease is cancer.