A malignancy-risk gene signature developed for breast cancer has been found to have predictive and prognostic value for patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. The advancement was made by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
According to corresponding author Dung-Tsa Chen, Ph.D., associate member with the Moffitt Biostatistics program, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80-90 percent of all lung cancers. Patients with NSCLC have a 30-50 percent relapse rate after surgery and a 40-70 percent five-year survival rate. Although adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) has increased survival rates and has become standard treatment for NSCLC, a proportion of patients do not derive any benefit from it.
‘Better prognostic tools have been needed to identify both patients with a high probability of relapse and those who would benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy,’ said Chen.
He added that the Moffitt researchers are confident that their newly tested malignancy-risk gene signature for NSCLC will provide that tool because their malignancy-risk gene signature is a proliferative gene signature, one associated with both cancer risk and progression.
According to the researchers, their findings suggest a ‘transferability’ of the malignancy-risk gene signature between breast cancer and NSCLC, a ‘unique feature not seen in other gene signatures derived for various tumor types.’
‘To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to show a high consistency of the gene signature on both breast cancer and NSCLC,’ said Chen. ‘The gene signature demonstrated a statistically significant association with overall survival and other clinical predictors in NSCLC.’
Originally, the malignancy-risk signature gene was designed to distinguish between normal breast tissues and breast cancer tissues by identifying abnormal molecular structure. The Moffitt research team further applied the signature to tissue samples from 442 NSCLC patients in the Director’s Challenge Consortium for the Molecular Classification of Lung Adenocarcinoma.
‘Additionally, the malignancy-risk gene signature has demonstrated the potential to identify early-stage NSCLC patients who would be likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy,’ explained Chen. ‘This malignancy-risk gene signature may provide an additional tool to help identify a subset of patients at high-risk for low overall survival and who may benefit from ACT.’
Study results revealed a predictive feature of the malignancy-risk gene signature with an ability to predict overall survival in NSCLC patients. Further, the malignancy-risk gene signature was able to consistently distinguish between low and high malignancy risk groups and correlate the groups by good to poor overall survival rates. Moffitt Cancer Center

Atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, is a very common heart rhythm disturbance that increases the risk of stroke and death. It is usually treated with warfarin, where the dose is calculated by measuring the coagulation of the blood. The dose is increased if coagulation is too quick, and decreased if it is too slow. Patients with unsatisfactory samples are tested more frequently, while satisfactory samples mean that the test interval can be extended.
Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have now devised a new method that improves the accuracy of risk assessment. In a study involving 20,000 patients in Sweden, a new measurement method was tested that assesses far more reliably who is at risk of serious complications and admission to hospital. The method takes into account how blood viscosity fluctuates and also takes account of the values’ extremes to establish far more reliably which patients are at risk of a stroke, haemorrhage or death. The new method improves the chances of understanding which patients are at risk of complications, and is therefore an indicator for stepping up checks and probably reducing the risks. It also helps in the decision to discontinue warfarin in favour of other drugs in at-risk patients.

Binding Site, the Birmingham-based healthcare manufacturer, develops and produces laboratory-based tests for the diagnosis and monitoring of blood cancers and immunodeficiency diseases. The company recently won the EEF Midlands Outstanding Export Award, sponsored by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), and will go on to compete in the National Awards final in January. The annual awards are hosted by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and recognise excellence in enterprise, innovation, environmental performance and skills development among UK manufacturers.
Binding Site’s export strategy has been developed and refined for more than ten years to become integral to all aspects of the business. Initially, the export initiative was led by the sales and marketing team, but as overseas expansion gathered pace, the company drew on the support of technical, R&D, HR and finance departments.As a result of this highly successful multi-disciplinary approach, Binding Site currently exports around 90% of its products, with the United States accounting for 47% of total sales. The judging panel, led by Cranfield University, praised Binding Site’s achievements, stating that it was extremely impressed by the challenging target market featured in the story, the United States. Despite tough regulations, Binding Site had broken through and was now experiencing progressive growth.

As well as announcing the launch of a new global diagnostics business unit at Medica last month, Avantor Performance Materials also announced the creation of a new diagnostics product brand: BeneSpheradiagnostics solutions, which will include a broad and expanding range of reliable, affordable diagnostic technologies and easy-to-use products, focused on three segments: in vitro reagents and instruments for clinical chemistry, immunology, haematology, microbiology, histology and cytology and genetic testing; instruments for in vivo diagnostics, currently sold under the Diagnova name in India; and consumables and instruments for life sciences research in academia, government and pharmaceutical labs, also currently sold under the Diagnova name in India.
At the moment Avantor’s performance diagnostics solutions include J.T.Baker clinical reagents, which have provided world-class solutions for haematology and histology applications for over 30 years, and BeneSphera diagnostics solutions built on Diagnova, the company’s Indian-based diagnostics business with a 25-year legacy offering products, engineering and application support for immunology, clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, endoscopy and life science needs.
Avantor’s plans are to grow the new global diagnostics business through organic development and the strategic acquisition of R&D-backed manufacturing and distribution companies in targeted locations to support a strong global brand and supply chain.

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute study results suggest that more patients than initially thought could potentially be treated with a new class of drugs, PARP inhibitors
A constellation of defective proteins suspected in causing a malfunction in the body’s ability to repair its own DNA could be the link scientists need to prove a new class of drugs will be effective in treating a broad range of ovarian cancer patients, an Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute study found.
These research results have prompted additional exploration into whether the patient population included in clinical trials for drugs that target the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) should be expanded. Several forms of cancer are more dependent on PARP for their growth than regular cells, which means that targeting these enzymes when they go haywire is a potentially effective way to treat ovarian cancer. Currently PARP inhibitors are being tested with patients who have two types of malfunctioning proteins, BRCA1 or BRCA2. But, the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute study of additional proteins, beyond BRCA proteins, suggests that they too are playing a role in driving ovarian cancer.
Tapping into the potential of PARP inhibitors could change the dynamics of ovarian cancer treatment. There has not been a substantial increase in treatment options for ovarian cancer in the past two decades, said Tanja Pejovic, M.D., Ph.D., gynaecologic oncologist at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. Pejovic, who led the study of these additional defective proteins, added that the results provide evidence that further research into the role of multiple proteins is warranted.
Only about 10 to 15 percent of women with ovarian cancer have BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations. Pejovic’s study of 186 patients with nonhereditary cancer found that 41 percent who had an early recurrence of the disease also had abnormal levels of the other proteins tracked. In contrast, only 19.5 percent of patients who hadn’t yet had a recurrence of the disease in three years had abnormal levels of these proteins.
‘If we are able to identify the proteins that differentiate these patients at risk for early recurrence, this would open up a new direction in ovarian cancer treatment,’ Pejovic said.
The study — which was supported by the Sherie Hildreth Ovarian Cancer (SHOC) Foundation — focused on proteins that are supposed to assist cells in repairing harmful breaks in DNA strands, a process called homologous recombination (HR). The malfunctioning of HR is not well understood in ovarian cancers where there is no family history of the disease. However, there is evidence that these proteins influence a patient’s ability to respond to drugs and their survival rates after treatment. Oregon Health & Science University