Research Highlight |
Featured
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Research Highlight |
Mutations in breast cancer stem cells correlate with metastases
- Vanessa Marchesi
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Research Highlight |
Red light warning sign for clear-cell renal cell carcinoma—REDECT reveals imaging biomarker
- Rebecca Kirk
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Review Article |
Imaging hypoxia to improve radiotherapy outcome
Hypoxia can affect clinical outcome after radiotherapy, resulting in reduced local tumour control and increased malignant progression. Hence, its detection is of utmost importance, but how can we detect hypoxia? Horsman et al. assess the potential use of imaging to identify hypoxic tumours that would lead to treatment modifications with the aim of improving clinical outcome after radiotherapy.
- Michael R. Horsman
- , Lise Saksø Mortensen
- & Jens Overgaard
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Review Article |
From drug discovery to biomarker-driven clinical trials in lymphoma
Improvements in the pathological classification of lymphoma have had little impact on advancing drug development or improving the cure rate. The authors discuss the current status of biomarker development in lymphoma, and how novel biomarker-directed clinical trial designs using rationally designed combination strategies will help to improve outcomes in patients with lymphoma.
- Anas Younes
- & Donald A. Berry
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Review Article |
Can predictive biomarkers in breast cancer guide adjuvant endocrine therapy?
Most studies for identifying biomarkers for oestrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive breast cancer have been performed using material from consecutive series of patients treated with tamoxifen. Consequently, the predictive value of any biomarker identified is confounded by its prognostic value. In this Review, the authors discuss how different biomarkers might enable the prediction of broad endocrine or agent-specific resistance.
- Karin Beelen
- , Wilbert Zwart
- & Sabine C. Linn
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Perspectives |
Tumour molecular profiling for deciding therapy—the French initiative
The use of tumour molecular profiles for therapeutic decision making requires that molecular diagnostics be introduced into routine clinical practice. To this end, the French National Cancer Institute and French Ministry of Health have set up a national network of 28 regional molecular genetics centres. In this Perspectives article, the authors look at the 4-year history of the French initiative and discuss its success in rapidly implementing molecular tests for new tumour biomarkers.
- Frédérique Nowak
- , Jean-Charles Soria
- & Fabien Calvo
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Review Article |
Patient-derived tumour xenografts as models for oncology drug development
In this Review, Tentler et al. present the opportunities and challenges of using patient-derived tumour xenograft models in oncology drug development, provide specific disease examples, and describe concepts regarding predictive biomarker development and future applications.
- John J. Tentler
- , Aik Choon Tan
- & S. Gail Eckhardt
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Opinion |
Antiangiogenic therapy—evolving view based on clinical trial results
Antiangiogenic therapies have secured a role in the treatment of multiple cancers. However, the success of this targeted therapy is not as great as originally anticipated. In this Perspectives article, the authors use data from clinical trials to uncover where some of the problems with this therapy lie, discuss exciting recently published data and look to what the next steps should be.
- Gordon C. Jayson
- , Daniel J. Hicklin
- & Lee M. Ellis
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In Brief |
Circulating tumor cells predict for bad news
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Opinion |
Challenges translating breast cancer gene signatures into the clinic
Microarray-based gene-expression profiling has advanced the breast cancer field. However, definitive answers to many of the questions for the successful implementation of personalized medicine remain elusive. The authors discuss the hurdles in the development and validation of molecular classification systems, and the challenges ahead for development of the next generation of molecular predictors.
- Britta Weigelt
- , Lajos Pusztai
- & Jorge S. Reis-Filho
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Review Article |
Predictive biomarkers: a paradigm shift towards personalized cancer medicine
Personalized cancer medicine—where treatments are selected and tailored for individual patients—is now a reality, although improvements are needed to identify predictive biomarkers for stratifying and subgrouping patients. A critical appraisal of biomarkers in clinical use for a range of cancers is presented, and the unique and unprecedented opportunity to deliver personalized cancer therapy on an ongoing and rational basis is highlighted.
- Nicholas B. La Thangue
- & David J. Kerr
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Review Article |
Metastasis-suppressor genes in clinical practice: lost in translation?
Metastasis-suppressor genes (MSGs) are involved in diverse molecular processes in multiple tumor types; therefore, treatment strategies based on MSGs have unparalleled potential to improve patient care. In this Review, barriers specific to the translation of MSG biology into clinical practice are discussed and future research directions necessary for clinical advances are delineated.
- Alexander N. Shoushtari
- , Russell Z. Szmulewitz
- & Carrie W. Rinker-Schaeffer
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Review Article |
Opportunities and pitfalls of cancer imaging in clinical trials
Medical imaging techniques can monitor tumor changes in response to treatment and provide important surrogate end points in clinical studies. Bruno Morgan discusses advantages and limitations of currently available imaging modalities and highlights the challenges associated with the incorporation of imaging biomarkers into clinical cancer trials.
- Bruno Morgan
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Review Article |
Methodological and practical challenges for personalized cancer therapies
Many clinical trials of targeted therapies have produced disappointing results, indicating that many challenges must be addressed to advance this field. The authors discuss the importance of novel statistical designs, the need for biopsy sampling in clinical trials and appropriate biomarker identification for improving treatment outcomes.
- Ignacio I. Wistuba
- , Juri G. Gelovani
- & Roy S. Herbst
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Review Article |
Implementing prognostic and predictive biomarkers in CRC clinical trials
KRASrepresents the first biomarker to be integrated in clinical practice for the treatment of colorectal cancer. However, clinical study design, reproducibility, interpretation and reporting of the clinical data remain important challenges. This Review highlights the clinical application of published prognostic and predictive protein and genomic markers and the possibilities offered by novel adaptive clinical trial designs.
- Sandra Van Schaeybroeck
- , Wendy L. Allen
- & Patrick G. Johnston
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Review Article |
Prognostic factors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia—what do we need to know?
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can present as an acute leukemia that is aggressive and life threatening or in an indolent form that will not require treatment over decades. A number of methods are available to clinicians for the prediction of disease progression and survival on an individual basis, including clinical staging systems and a plethora of novel molecular and biological factors that correlate with the outcome of CLL. This Review provides a concise discussion of the most important discoveries and gives guidance on how to implement novel prognostic tools in the clinical management of CLL by applying the criteria of evidence, relevance, and simplicity to the selection of prognostic markers.
- Paula Cramer
- & Michael Hallek
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Correspondence |
Predicting the clinical course of Hodgkin lymphoma
- Alberto Fabbri
- , Alessandro Gozzetti
- & Francesco Lauria
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News & Views |
Biomarkers in NSCLC for selecting cetuximab therapy
A phase III trial investigated the efficacy of carboplatin and a taxane with and without cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody against EGFR, in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. This trial did not reveal an improvement in the primary end point of progression-free survival (according to an independent radiological review committee) with the addition of cetuximab to the carboplatin and taxane regimen. A retrospective investigation of potential biomarkers did not reveal any significant association between these biomarkers and cetuximab efficacy.
- Thomas E. Stinchcombe
- & Mark A. Socinski
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Research Highlight |
Staging and prognostic value of p16 expression in oropharyngeal cancer
- Lisa Richards
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Review Article |
Molecular circuits of solid tumors: prognostic and predictive tools for bedside use
The rapid pace of research in cancer biology, and the advent of molecular targeted therapies has made personalized medicine a reality. This knowledge has generated a vast panel of molecular biomarkers. This Review presents the molecular, prognostic and predictive factors for the six solid tumors associated with the highest mortality. The authors discuss the key biomarkers for each disease site according to its associated clinicopathological presentation and specific associated molecular interactions.
- Charles Ferté
- , Fabrice André
- & Jean-Charles Soria
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Research Highlight |
CD8+:FOXP3+ cell ratio is a novel survival marker for colorectal cancer
- Rebecca Kirk
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News & Views |
Are macrophages the bad guys in Hodgkin lymphoma?
Prognostic models for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are imperfect and do not allow a precise individualized therapy. A recent gene-expression profiling study, translated into a routine immunohistological test, identified genes of tumor-associated macrophages as being responsible for treatment outcome in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. If this finding is confirmed by other investigators, it could be a major step towards personalized therapy for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Volker Diehl
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Review Article |
Molecular markers to individualize adjuvant therapy for colon cancer
Prognostic and predictive markers in colon cancer might help define which patients with stage II disease are likely to benefit from adjuvant therapy. In this Review, Tara Gangadhar and Richard Schilsky discuss the recent clinical development of such markers, including microsatellite instability and 18q loss of heterozygosity. Further validation of these markers could potentially lead to the individualization of adjuvant therapy in colon cancer.
- Tara Gangadhar
- & Richard L. Schilsky
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Review Article |
What should physicians look for in evaluating prognostic gene-expression signatures?
Well-developed and validated genomic signatures can lead to personalized treatment decisions resulting in improved patient management. However, the pace of acceptance of these signatures in clinical practice has been slow because many of the signatures have been developed without clear focus on the intended clinical use, and proper independent validation studies establishing their medical utility have rarely been performed. The authors of this Review focus on guidelines that physicians could refer to when evaluating studies on prognostic gene-expression signatures.
- Jyothi Subramanian
- & Richard Simon
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Research Highlight |
FOXP3+ TREG cell distribution predicts transformation in follicular lymphoma
- Katrina Ray
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Abnormal chromosomes forecast rapid disease progression in SMM
Cachexia—skeletal muscle depletion is a prognostic factor
Harmonizing the immune response with a cancer vaccine
Panitumumab improves PFS in mCRC with wild-type KRAS
First prognostic signature for adjuvant lung cancer therapy
Four-gene signature predicts survival in NSCLC