Individualizing Colon Cancer Therapy

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new model may help doctors predict the risk of a patient’s colon cancer returning and also offer insight into the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

Researchers identified patterns in the gene expression of 52 early stage colon cancer tumor samples. The gene expression patterns were then correlated with reports on the patient’s progress to track cancer recurrence. Researchers were able to predict within 90 percent accuracy which tumors would return.

Taking their study to the next level, the researchers used the gene expression and prognosis data to see how effective different types of cancer therapy are at treating the tumors. They found the impact of traditional chemotherapy varied greatly. Two novel drug therapies were also tested on the tumor samples and were found to alter their genetic makeup, turning high-recurrence-risk tumors into low-recurrence-risk tumors.

“These findings have important implications for individualizing therapy,” said Katherine Garman, M.D., lead investigator, and a gastroenterology fellow at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy in Durham, N.C., was quoted as saying. “By examining gene expression in early-stage colon cancer tumors, we have found certain patterns that seem to put some patients at higher risk for recurrence. By identifying these patients up front, we may be able to treat them in a targeted and proactive manner to prevent this recurrence and help them live longer and healthier lives.”

SOURCE: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online November 24, 2008