Genes may hold clues to ca treatment response. (Advanced Ovarian Cancer).

MIAMI BEACH -- A set of 10 genes has been identified as a possible marker for responsiveness to standard chemotherapy in women with ovarian cancer, Dr. Lynn C. Hartmann reported at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

The ability to forecast resistance to standard treatment in the approximately 85% of patients with advanced disease who fail to respond to standard treatment could have major implications for improving treatments. Identification of the genomic markers could allow for individualized treatment strategies using alternative chemotherapy regimens. Further research is necessary to do so, said Dr. Hartmann of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

In a study of 51 fresh-frozen, pretreatment, epithelial ovarian cancer specimens, samples from women who responded to treatment were compared with those from women who did not respond. The final set of genes was narrowed down from 30,000 for which mRNA expression levels were measured in each of the specimens; the final set included those that best classified the specimens. The set correlated with response to treatment in 86% of cases.

All patients were treated with surgical debulking and standard platinum-paclitaxel therapy. Those who had disease recurrence before the median interval of 21 months were considered nonresponders, and those who remained disease free for at least 21 months were considered responders, she said at the meeting, also sponsored by the American College of Surgeons.

Other findings reported at the meeting that may have future implications for predicting treatment response or outcomes ...