ANAHEIM, California (Reuters Health) - Using microarray analysis, cancer researchers have identified an 11-gene signature that is strongly associated with a poor response to treatment, increased risk of metastatic spread, and shorten survival in patients with a variety of primary tumor types.
The data “seem to indicate the presence of a conserved BMI-1 oncogene-driven pathway similarly engaged in both normal stem cells and a highly malignant subset of human cancers diagnosed in a wide range of organs and uniformly exhibiting a marked propensity toward metastatic dissemination as well as high probability of treatment failure,” the researchers explain in an abstract of the 96th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Early identification of cancer patients with the 11-gene so-called “death from cancer signature” will allow clinicians and patients to consider therapeutic strategies beyond the conventional at the time of diagnosis, said Dr. Gennadi V. Glinksy from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego.
According to the team, 93% of human and 87% of mouse tissues analyzed manifest negative (non-stem cell-like) expression profiles of the 11-gene signature.
They evaluated the prognostic power of the 11-gene signature in several independent therapy outcome data sets of clinical samples obtained from 1566 cancer patients diagnosed with 10 different types of cancer: prostate, breast, lung, ovarian, bladder, lymphoma, mesothelioma, medulloblastoma, glioma, and acute myeloid leukemia.
Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that a stem cell-like expression profile of the 11-gene signature in primary tumors was a “consistent powerful predictor” of a short time to disease recurrence, distant metastasis, and death after therapy.
Additional studies are planned to validate these observations. If confirmed, patients with this genetic signature might be candidates for early more aggressive individualized therapy, the investigators suggest.
MeSH Headings:Behavioral Sciences: Biological Sciences: Biology: Cause of Death: Congresses: Data Collection: Demography: Behavioral Disciplines and Activities: Health Care Economics and Organizations: Environment and Public Health: Epidemiologic Methods: Gene Expression Regulation: Genetic Techniques: Genetics: Genetics, Biochemical: Health: Health Occupations: Health Services Administration: Information Science: Medicine: Investigative Techniques: Molecular Biology: Mortality: Organizations: Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care): Population Characteristics: Preventive Medicine: Public Health: Quality of Health Care: Social Sciences: Specialties, Medical: Vital Statistics: Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic: Epidemiologic Measurements: Treatment Outcome: Outcome Assessment (Health Care): Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation: Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms: Gene Expression Profiling: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment: Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena: Biological Sciences: Health Care: Information Science: Psychiatry and PsychologyCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
