Abstract
This article describes the clinical relevance of toxicity of therapies administered to patients with cancer, putting the patient, rather than disease, at the center of the evaluation of safety of anti-cancer therapy. Hence, the implications of adverse events are described from the patient perspective, focusing on the impact of patient safety on quality of life and efficacy of treatment. Issues revolving around other types of safety, such as financial toxicity, are also discussed. The role played by genetics in the assessment of a patient's risk of adverse events is also discussed, both in relation to the potential of genomic research and in the context of current tools of fruition in clinical care.