Clinical Information

Thiopurine S-methyltransferase catalyzes thiopurine S-methylation, an important metabolic pathway for antineoplastic and immunosuppressive drugs. In the US, 11% of the population show intermediate TPMT activity, and approximately 1 in 300 have TPMT deficiency. Given potentially fatal nature of hematopoietic toxicity when full doses of mercaptopurine or azathioprine are given to TPMT deficient patients, and the difficulty to measure TPMT activity accurately when patients have been given red cell transfusions, the molecular method to determine TPMT genotype permits prospective identification of patients at risk.