Programs in Development
Platinum resistance in ovarian cancer
The standard chemotherapy treatment agents for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are Platinum and Taxol. Unfortunately, up to 30% of women are initially resistant to Platinum compounds, defined as developing recurrence of their cancer within 6 months of treatment. Even more concerning are women who are platinum resistant who receive platinum chemotherapy before surgery with the hopes of making surgery more successful. An improved understanding of the fundamental biological differences in tumors that could explain platinum resistance is critical to allow the best treatment of patients.
Women with the KRAS-variant have been shown to have a significantly higher risk of dying from their ovarian cancer (see figure below). In addition, these women have been found to be platinum resistant (OR=3.18, CI=1.31-7.72, p=0.0106, n=291).
Studies to define agents that work better for ovarian cancer patients with the KRAS-variant are actively underway.
Amgen’s Vectibix®, and BMS/Imclone Systems/Lilly’s Erbitux®, and AstraZeneca’s IRESSA® are all examples of targeted therapies that require companion diagnostics. Mira Dx® has a pipeline of markers and in vitro systems for targeted therapies still in development that can help patient stratification for better clinical trial outcome. Many of the markers have been developed into proper Laboratory Developed Tests (ltd’s) that are run in our CLIA certified laboratory.
The standard chemotherapy treatment agents for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are Platinum and Taxol. Unfortunately, up to 30% of women are initially resistant to Platinum compounds, defined as developing recurrence of their cancer within 6 months of treatment. Even more concerning are women who are platinum resistant who receive platinum chemotherapy before surgery with the hopes of making surgery more successful. An improved understanding of the fundamental biological differences in tumors that could explain platinum resistance is critical to allow the best treatment of patients.
Women with the KRAS-variant have been shown to have a significantly higher risk of dying from their ovarian cancer (see figure below). In addition, these women have been found to be platinum resistant (OR=3.18, CI=1.31-7.72, p=0.0106, n=291).
Studies to define agents that work better for ovarian cancer patients with the KRAS-variant are actively underway.
Figure 1. The KRAS-variant predicts significantly worse overall survival for postmenopausal ovarian cancer patients over 52 years of age. Overall survivals for ovarian cancer patients with (n=59) and without (n=220) the KRAS-variant are compared using the Kaplan-Meier analysis. Outcome is significantly worse for KRAS variant positive EOC patients over 52 years of age by log-rank test (P+0.0399).
A KRAS-variant is a Biomarker of Poor Outcome, Platinum Chemotherapy Resistance and a Potential Target for Therapy in Ovarian Cancer Rathner E. et al. Oncogene: 2011 (1-8)
Amgen’s Vectibix®, and BMS/Imclone Systems/Lilly’s Erbitux®, and AstraZeneca’s IRESSA® are all examples of targeted therapies that require companion diagnostics. Mira Dx® has a pipeline of markers and in vitro systems for targeted therapies still in development that can help patient stratification for better clinical trial outcome. Many of the markers have been developed into proper Laboratory Developed Tests (ltd’s) that are run in our CLIA certified laboratory.