Gene Test Could Predict Colon Cancer's Return
(HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've developed a genetic model for predicting the risk of recurrence in patients with early stage colon cancer.
According to a team at the Duke Institute for Genome Science & Policy, the model also predicts colon cancer's sensitivity to chemotherapy and targeted therapy regimens.
The researchers looked for gene expression patterns in 52 samples of early stage colon cancer tumors and correlated those patterns with patient outcomes. They then tested the predictive power of those correlations in two independent data sets from 55 and 73 tumors.
"In our small dataset, we were able to predict which tumors were at risk for recurring with 90 percent accuracy," lead investigator and gastroenterology fellow Dr. Katherine Garman, said in a Duke news release.
The researchers then used the data about gene expression and patient prognosis to study response to several types of cancer therapy.
"Importantly, we found that the traditional chemotherapy given to patients with colon cancer varies considerably in its ability to treat tumors with a high likelihood of cancer recurrence," Garman said.
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