Genetic Signature Could Lead To Personalized Lung Cancer Therapy
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Five-gene marker described in Jan. 4 New England Journal of Medicine can predict treatment outcomes in non-small cell patients, setting stage for personalized therapy.
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A five-gene marker described in a new research study has the potential to predict treatment outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Hsuan-Yu Chen et al., National Taiwan University College of Public Health, studied 672 genes in lung tissue specimens resected from 125 NSCLC patients at a Taiwan hospital between 1999 and 2003. Using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and microarray techniques, the researchers identified five genes that together could predict relapse-free and overall survival with 98% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 95% predictive value and an overall accuracy of 96%. The median survival rate was twice as long in the group predicted to be at low risk of death or recurrence (40 months) as in the high-risk group (20 months), Chen et al. report in the Jan. 4 New England Journal of Medicine. NSCLC accounts for about 75% of all lung cancers, or roughly 750,000 cases each year worldwide. The immediate clinical implication of the findings is that patients with the low-risk gene signature might be spared unnecessary cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy, the research team suggests. An accompanying editorial says the research sets the stage for prospective trials of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early lung cancer selected according to their molecular signatures. These genetic biomarkers might also be able to predict the benefit of newer, more targeted drugs. "It is now crucial to create molecular tools that can predict the response of cancers to single agents or combination chemotherapies, in order to guide the development of new drugs or improve routine clinical care," Chen et al. write. Genentech's angiogenesis inhibitor Avastin , cleared by FDA in October, plus the firm's Tarceva and AstraZeneca's Iressa , are three drugs that could be used more effectively when paired with genetic screening of NSCLC patients. Genzyme has developed several gene mutation analysis tests that help predict response to Tarceva or Iressa, both epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors. -Pamela Taulbee ([email protected]) [Editor's note: This story appears courtesy of the editorial staff of 1 'The Gray Sheet', your source for coverage of devices and diagnostics. For a sample copy, call customer service at 800-332-2181.] |