Methods and systems for prognosis of a patient's response to treatment of androgenetic skin disorders

11:

• The method of claim 10,
• wherein the androgenetic skin disorder is male androgenetic alopecia;
• and
• wherein the drug is finasteride and the dosage is less than or equal to about 0.75 mg daily.

13:

• The method of claim 10,
• wherein the androgenetic skin disorder is female androgenetic alopecia;
• and
• wherein the drug is finasteride and the dosage is less than or equal to about 2.5 mg daily.

25:

• The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating a prognosis comprises:
• generating a first comparison result or one or more other comparison results based on the step of comparing one or more of the patient score values with the reference information, the first and one or more other comparison results being mutually exclusive;
• and
• determining that the patient is likely to be responsive to the drug if the first comparison result is generated.

26:

• The method of claim 25,
• wherein the reference information comprises a numerical reference value corresponding to a first patient score value;
• and
• wherein the step of comparing one or more of the patient score values with the reference information comprises comparing the first patient score value with the numerical reference value.

27:

• The method of claim 26,
• wherein the first patient score value is selected from the group consisting of the length of an AR CAG microsatellite within the genetic material, and the length of an AR GGN microsatellite within the genetic material;
• wherein the numerical reference value is 20;
• and
• wherein the first comparison result is generated when the first patient score value is less than the numerical reference value.

28:

• The method of claim 26,
• wherein the first patient score value is the sum of the length of an AR CAG microsatellite within the genetic material plus the length of an AR GGN microsatellite within the genetic material;
• wherein the numerical reference value is 40;
• and
• wherein the first comparison result is generated when the first patient score value is less than the numerical reference value.

30:

• The method of claim 26,
• wherein the first patient score value is the longer of (a) the length of an AR CAG microsatellite within the genetic material or (b) the length of an AR GGN microsatellite within the genetic material;
• wherein the numerical reference value is 20;
• and
• wherein the first comparison result is generated when the first patient score value is less than THE numerical reference value.

31:

• The method of claim 26,
• wherein a first chromosome score is a function of one or more quantities selected from the group consisting of:
• the length of an AR CAG microsatellite within a first X chromosome within the genetic material, the length of an AR GGN microsatellite within the first X chromosome within the genetic material, and the length of a TA dinucleotide microsatellite within a 5-alpha-reductase gene within the first X chromosome within the sample:
• wherein a second chromosome score is a function of one or more quantities selected from the group consisting of the length of an AR CAG microsatellite within a second X chromosome within the genetic material, die length of an AR GGN microsatellite within the second X chromosome within the genetic material, and the length of a TA dinucleotide microsatellite within a 5-alpha-reductase gene within the second X chromosome within the sample;
• wherein the second X chromosome is homologous to the first X chromosome;
• and wherein the first patient score value is selected from the group consisting of
• (a) the greater of the first chromosome score and the second chromosome score,
• (b) the lesser of the first chromosome score and the second chromosome score,
• (c) the sum of the first chromosome score and the second chromosome score, and
• (d) the average of the first chromosome score and the second chromosome score.

32:

• The method of claim 25,
• wherein the reference information comprises aggregate data from a plurality of reference profiles, each reference profile corresponding to a reference patient who has been administered the drug, and from whom a reference sample has been collected, wherein each reference profile comprises:
• an indication of the corresponding reference patient's responsiveness or non-responsiveness to the drug;
• and
• a set of one or more reference values, each reference value being a function of one or more measurable reference characteristics selected from the group consisting of:
• one or more reference genotypes within genetic material obtained extracted from the reference sample, each reference genotype being an allele of a genetic polymorphism selected from the group consisting of
• (a) an androgen-related polymorphism,
• (b) an EDA2R gene polymorphism, and
• (c) a polymorphism having an allele in linkage disequilibrium with an allele of a genetic polymorphism selected from the group consisting of an androgen-related polymorphism and an EDA2R gene polymorphism;
• a measured concentration of 5-alpha-reductase within the a reference sample;
• and
• a measurement of transcriptional activity of an 5-alpha-reductase gene within the reference sample;
• and
• wherein the plurality of reference profiles comprise:
• a first reference profile corresponding to a first reference patient whose reference profile is indicative of responsiveness to the drug;
• and
• a second reference profile corresponding to a second reference patient whose reference profile is indicative of non-responsiveness to the drug.

34:

• The method of claim 32,
• wherein the one or more media comprise a neural network that has been trained with the plurality of reference profiles;
• wherein the step of generating a prognosis comprises:
• inputting the patient profile into the neural network;
• and
• generating a value or set of values from the neural network indicative of the patient's expected response to the drug treatment at a single or multiple dosages.

35:

• The method of claim 32,
• wherein the aggregate data comprises a set of statistical values describing a statistical distribution based on the reference profiles;
• and
• wherein the first comparison result is generated when one or more of the patient score values meets one or more statistical criteria based on the statistical distribution.

36:

• The method of claim 32,
• wherein the androgenetic skin disorder is androgenetic alopecia;
• and
• wherein for each reference profile, the indication of the corresponding reference patient's responsiveness or non-responsiveness to the drug comprises an assessment selected from the group consisting of:
• a physician's assessment of the responsiveness or non-responsiveness of the drug using a standardized scale;
• and
• an assessment of one or more criteria selected from the group consisting of hair growth measurement, hair thickness measurement, selected hair diameter measurement, average hair diameter measurement, and average hair length measurement.