Biomarker Improves Head and Neck Cancer Patient Prognosis
By LabMedica International staff writers Posted on 30 Jan 2012 |
A molecular fingerprint in head and neck cancers can predict whether a patient's tumor will be life threatening.
The molecular fingerprint biomarker is considered particularly promising because it can detect the level of risk immediately following diagnosis. This biomarker could become a component of a new test to guide how aggressively those with head and neck tumors should be treated.
A study was performed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (Bronx, NY, USA) and Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY, USA), the University Hospital for Einstein. Tissue samples were taken from tumors and nearby healthy tissue of 123 head and neck cancer patients at Montefiore and levels of 736 microRNAs were measured. Of all the microRNAs measured, one in particular–miR-375– stood out for being the most down-regulated in head and neck tumors compared with its levels in adjacent normal tissue.
The 123 patients were ranked according to how extreme the difference was between the miR-375 in their tumor and in adjacent normal tissue, with that difference expressed as the ratio: miR-375 level in patient's tumor tissue divided by miR-375 level in patient's normal tissue. All patients were then followed throughout the course of their illness.
MiR-375 proved to be a highly useful biomarker for predicting disease outcome. The patients for whom the difference between their tumor and normal-tissue miR-375 levels was most extreme (i.e., the one-fourth of patients with the lowest ratios) were nearly 13 times more likely to die or 9 times more likely to experience distant spread (metastasis) of their cancer compared to patients with higher miR-375 ratios.
The findings were published online January 9, 2012, in the American Journal of Pathology.
Related Links:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center
The molecular fingerprint biomarker is considered particularly promising because it can detect the level of risk immediately following diagnosis. This biomarker could become a component of a new test to guide how aggressively those with head and neck tumors should be treated.
A study was performed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (Bronx, NY, USA) and Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY, USA), the University Hospital for Einstein. Tissue samples were taken from tumors and nearby healthy tissue of 123 head and neck cancer patients at Montefiore and levels of 736 microRNAs were measured. Of all the microRNAs measured, one in particular–miR-375– stood out for being the most down-regulated in head and neck tumors compared with its levels in adjacent normal tissue.
The 123 patients were ranked according to how extreme the difference was between the miR-375 in their tumor and in adjacent normal tissue, with that difference expressed as the ratio: miR-375 level in patient's tumor tissue divided by miR-375 level in patient's normal tissue. All patients were then followed throughout the course of their illness.
MiR-375 proved to be a highly useful biomarker for predicting disease outcome. The patients for whom the difference between their tumor and normal-tissue miR-375 levels was most extreme (i.e., the one-fourth of patients with the lowest ratios) were nearly 13 times more likely to die or 9 times more likely to experience distant spread (metastasis) of their cancer compared to patients with higher miR-375 ratios.
The findings were published online January 9, 2012, in the American Journal of Pathology.
Related Links:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center
Latest Molecular Diagnostics News
- Simple Blood Test Could Enable First Quantitative Assessments for Future Cerebrovascular Disease
- New Genetic Testing Procedure Combined With Ultrasound Detects High Cardiovascular Risk
- Blood Samples Enhance B-Cell Lymphoma Diagnostics and Prognosis
- Blood Test Predicts Knee Osteoarthritis Eight Years Before Signs Appears On X-Rays
- Blood Test Accurately Predicts Lung Cancer Risk and Reduces Need for Scans
- Unique Autoantibody Signature to Help Diagnose Multiple Sclerosis Years before Symptom Onset
- Blood Test Could Detect HPV-Associated Cancers 10 Years before Clinical Diagnosis
- Low-Cost Point-Of-Care Diagnostic to Expand Access to STI Testing
- 18-Gene Urine Test for Prostate Cancer to Help Avoid Unnecessary Biopsies
- Urine-Based Test Detects Head and Neck Cancer
- Blood-Based Test Detects and Monitors Aggressive Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Blood-Based Machine Learning Assay Noninvasively Detects Ovarian Cancer
- Simple PCR Assay Accurately Differentiates Between Small Cell Lung Cancer Subtypes
- Revolutionary T-Cell Analysis Approach Enables Cancer Early Detection
- Single Genetic Test to Accelerate Diagnoses for Rare Developmental Disorders
- Upgraded Syndromic Testing Analyzer Enables Remote Test Results Access