Dr. Oh on Validating Gene Signatures in mCRPC

William K. Oh, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses the process of validating a whole-blood prognostic signature in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).

It was determined that a previously identified six-gene signature (ABL2, SEMA4D, ITGAL, C1QA, TIMP1, CDKN1A) was likely derived from immune cells, not cancer, Oh states. Since this signature was found to be prognostic, this could indicate that the body’s reaction to cancer is as important as the cancer itself.

The primary question now is whether or not this data can be easily quantified by measuring a biomarker in the blood reproducibly in a commercially available test. To address this, work is ongoing with diagnostic companies to commercialize the 6-gene prognostic signature, Oh notes. If successful, this test could help clinicians make decisions about how to treat their patients.

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