US 7,622,251 B2 · Molecular indicators of breast cancer prognosis and prediction of treatment response

Abstract

The present invention relates to quantitative molecular indicators that can guide clinical decisions in breast cancer, such as estrogen receptor (ESR1)-positive, lymph node-negative breast cancer. In particular, the invention concerns certain genes, the varied expression of which indicates the likelihood of recurrence of surgically resected breast cancer in patients who are not treated with a therapeutic agent in the adjuvant setting. In addition, the invention concerns the use of quantitative measurement of the expression of certain genes, including the ESR1 gene, that measure as a continuous variable, to determine (a) the likelihood of a beneficial response to the anti-estrogen therapeutic agent, such as tamoxifen; and (b) the potential magnitude of beneficial response to chemotherapy.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

measuring, in a tumor sample obtained from a patient with estrogen receptor (ESR1) positive (>10 fmol/mg cytosol protein) breast cancer, an ESR1 Group Score or ESR1, BCL2 and SCUBE2 RNA transcript expression levels;
calculating a predictive score based on the ESR1 Group Score or expression levels of said RNA transcripts to determine the likelihood that said patient has an increased likelihood of a beneficial response to treatment with an anti-estrogen drug, wherein increases in the ESR1 Group Score, or in the expression levels of said RNA transcripts positively correlate with an increased likelihood of a beneficial response to said treatment, and generating a report based on the predictive score.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Molecular indicators of breast cancer prognosis and prediction of treatment response

Life of this patent

Molecular indicators of breast cancer prognosis and prediction of treatment response

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12