Future Directions and Unmet Research Needs in Cutaneous Adverse Drug Reactions

Here we will review some breakthroughs in science and translational medicine that are shaping the field of adverse drug reactions (ADR), including cutaneous adverse drugs reactions (CADR) and the subcategory of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR). This includes the discovery of multiple new associations (genetic and beyond) yielding insight into mechanisms of disease pathogenesis. Further advances will come from personalized/precision medicine initiatives looking at how an individual’s unique combination of genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, phenome, and exposome predisposes them to CADR. Multiple disciplines of “omics” (i.e., genomics, epigenomics) stand to contribute to the field. The ultimate goals of CADR research are to improve diagnosis and treatment, but also prevention of disease by predicting reactions before medications are given and before new drugs are developed and used in man.