Researchers are exploring the use of genetic profiling in lung tumors to to predict the tumors' likely response to therapy and determine the best treatment strategy for lung cancers.

Researchers looked at the sensitivity of multiple cancerous cell lines to cisplatin, the most commonly used agent in the treatment of lung cancer. After determining which cell lines were responsive to cisplatin they looked at the RNA of these tumors and generated a genomic signature - a pattern of gene expression particular to each individual sample. They were able to draw conclusions about which genes were turned on and which were turned off in these samples, and subsequently created a genomic map for cisplatin sensitivity. The genomic map was then applied to 91 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor samples to determine which tumors were most likely to be responsive to cisplatin, Hsu said.

For tumors that are unlikely to respond to cisplatin, a drug called pemetrexed may be a viable option, considering that the researchers foung strongest inverse correlation between tumors that were sensitive to cisplatin and those that were sensitive to pemetrexed. A clinical trial based on these findings are currently underway.

Source: Duke Med
Image: Medline Plus