Methods and kits for predicting cancer prognosis and metastasis
OwnerStephanie Fraley, Hannah Carter +2inventors
InventorsStephanie Fraley, Hannah Carter, Daniel Ortiz Velez, Brian Tsui
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a novel gene signature of metastatic cancer cells and a novel three-dimensional (3D) culture system for use in improved methods of predicting metastasis or prognosis in cancer. Accordingly, described herein are methods of determining a risk of metastasis, methods of predicting prognosis for cancer patients, methods of treating a cancer patient identified at high risk of metastasis, methods of treating a cancer patient identified as having poorer prognosis, methods for determining the migration capacity of a tumor, methods of screening a tumor for sensitivity to a drug, and kits for use in performing these methods.
Claims30
A method of determining gene expression level of one or more genes of a vascular mimicry (VM) gene module in a sample isolated from a subject, comprising analyzing the expression of the one or more genes listed in the VM gene module.
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A method of predicting prognosis for a cancer patient, the method comprising:
- determining a gene expression level of one or more genes of a vascular mimicry (VM) gene module in a sample isolated from the cancer subject, wherein an increase in expression of the one or more genes in the VM gene module compared to a predetermined reference level is indicative of poorer prognosis.
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A method of treating a cancer patient, the method comprising administering a cancer treatment that is optionally an aggressive cancer treatment to the cancer patient, wherein a sample isolated from the cancer patient has previously been determined to have increased expression of one or more VM module genes compared to a predetermined reference level.
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A kit for determining the gene expression level and/or a risk of tumor metastasis, the kit comprising reagents for determining the gene expression level of at least one VM module gene in a sample isolated from a subject, and instructions for use.
A method of determining the migration capacity of a tumor comprising tumor cells, the method comprising:
- culturing a tumor sample embedded in a 3D collagen matrix, wherein the tumor sample was isolated from a subject;
- and
- determining the migration capacity of the tumor sample by tracking motility of the tumor cells in the 3D collagen matrix.
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A method of screening a tumor for sensitivity to a drug, the method comprising:
- culturing a tumor sample embedded in a 3D collagen matrix comprising one or more drugs;
- and
- screening the tumor sample for sensitivity to the drug by determining the viability of the tumor sample.
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A culture system comprising cells embedded in a high density 3D collagen matrix.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.