New Biomarker Study Emphasizes the Importance of Profiling Recurrent Ovarian Tumors
Molecular profiling is a critical component of personalized cancer therapy. Armed with scientific evidence from assays used to profile a tumor’s molecular “on/off” switches, gynecological oncologists are making informed decisions about the best therapy for their patients, rather than an empirical choice of medicines.
According to a study conducted by The Clearity Foundation and published in the journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics’ February issue, the researchers reveal biomarker expression differs between primary and recurrent ovarian cancers. This is the first study to examine differences in a broad biomarker panel in patient-matched primary versus recurrent ovarian cancers. The results illustrate the importance of analyzing the most current tumor tissue when selecting therapies for women with recurrent ovarian cancer.
The study was led by The Clearity Foundation’s Scientific Director, Deb Zajchowski, PhD, in collaboration with Clearity Scientific Advisor, Beth Y. Karlan, MD, of Cedar-Sinai’s Women’s Cancer Program, and Clearity Foundation’s Laura Shawver, PhD. The researchers analyzed data collected by The Clearity Foundation in its Diane Barton Database. The researchers employed 18 immunohistochemical analyses at Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified labs to analyze 43 matched tumor specimens from 19 advanced stage carcinoma patients for a panel of proteins that are correlated with drug response. The study discovered that expression levels of five different biomarkers (ERCC1, PGP, RRM1, BCRP, and COX2) were discordant in more than 40% of the matched tumor samples. The increased expression of PGP and ERCC1 is an especially significant finding because these biomarkers are associated with resistance to certain chemotherapies (PGP for taxanes and anthracyclines, and ERCC1 for platinum).
The researchers concluded that the differences between primary and recurrent samples may be sufficiently large as to impact selection of therapy for recurrence. Future studies are needed to prospectively show the markers’ clinical predictive ability and determine clinical implications of the differences between primary and recurrent tumors.
“These results demonstrate the dynamic genetic changes in ovarian cancers between diagnosis and recurrence. While the expression of these and other candidate response biomarkers should be evaluated in larger studies to better understand the clinical utility of profiling recurrent tumor specimens, this report highlights our urgent need to individualize our treatment approaches in order to improve ovarian cancer survival,” says Dr. Karlan, Director of the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Cancer Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and a renowned expert in the field of gynecologic oncology.
Because ovarian cancers vary widely from patient to patient, they are likely to respond differently to FDA-approved and clinical trial drugs. By identifying the differences in biomarker expression of each tumor, molecular profiling allows physicians to personalize a patient’s treatment by matching the tumor alterations with one or more drugs, bucking the typical one-size-fits-all approach.
At Clearity, we believe you deserve medicine personalized for YOUR cancer, which is why we’ve developed a process for generating personalized diagnostic information using molecular profiling and then analyzing the results using our Diane Barton Database. We hope that this new study increases awareness about molecular profiling and its critical capability to better inform the treatment of ovarian cancer patients. If you experience recurrence of your cancer, ask your doctor about getting a new biopsy.
