NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Gene expression profiles of readily obtainable biopsy specimens can predict the clinical outcome of lung cancer patients, according to a report in the July 15th American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“It is unlikely that there will be a single panel of prognostic genes derived from a single study that will be universally applicable to all patients with lung cancer,” principal investigator Dr. Charles A. Powell from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York told Reuters Health.
“Rather, we expect that pooling information acquired from similar studies using tools such as those described in our paper will facilitate the future development of consensus molecular classifiers of response and prognosis that will be widely generalizable to patients with lung cancer.”
Dr. Powell and colleagues processed residual material obtained from 23 diagnostic lung cancer biopsies for gene expression profiling and used the outcome model to identify genes associated with a high risk for cancer death.
The researchers first established a 99-gene histology classifier model that proved 86% accurate in predicting the histology of 29 independently obtained lung carcinoma resection specimens.
The authors then used the Maximum Difference Subset algorithm to identify 42 genes associated with cancer death within 12 months. This set correctly classified 20 of 23 (87%) clinical outcomes.
In a separate analysis, 9 of the 42 genes were associated with cancer-free survival in a large cohort of Massachusetts-based patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
“The relevance of the outcome marker genes identified in the biopsy specimens is supported by other studies indicating that several genes are associated with prognosis in patients with lung carcinoma or other carcinomas,” the investigators explain.
Proliferation genes were associated with adverse outcomes, whereas MHC Class II genes were associated with more favorable outcomes.
“A rationale for developing methods to identify molecular signatures from biopsy specimens is that biopsy specimens are available from all patients with lung cancer whereas resected tumors are available from approximately 20% to 25% of patients with lung cancer,” Dr. Powell said.
“Further, our procedures do not expose the patient undergoing biopsy to additional medical risk.”
“The results suggest that molecular profiling of biopsy specimens may be useful for predicting response to therapy,” Dr. Powell added. “This hypothesis will be tested by embedding this technology into planned lung cancer clinical trials at Columbia University Medical Center.”
Source: Am J Resp Crit Care Med 2004;170:167-174. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Genetic Techniques: Investigative Techniques: Gene Expression Profiling: Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and EquipmentCopyright © 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.
