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New lead in the search for biomarkers for lung cancer treatment


November 15, 2010

Dr. Christina Addison and colleagues have found a potential new biomarker to predict which lung cancer patients are likely to benefit from a new targeted anti-cancer therapy. After analyzing blood samples from more than 500 patients, they found that those who had low levels of a protein called Transforming Growth Factor alpha were more likely to benefit from the drug erlotinib. They also found another potential biomarker that could help predict overall survival. The findings provide an important contribution to the development of personalized medicine for cancer, although more research will be needed before the results can be applied in clinical practice. See Journal of Clinical Oncology for details.

Dr. Addison is a Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Cancer Therapeutics Program) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa (Faculty of Medicine).