Independent and functional validation of a multi-tumour-type proliferation signature

M. H. W. Starmans*, N. G. Lieuwes, P. N. Span, S. Haider, L. Dubois, F. Nguyen, H. W. van Laarhoven, F. C. G. J. Sweep, B. G. Wouters, P. C. Boutros, P. Lambin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Previously we demonstrated that an mRNA signature reflecting cellular proliferation had strong prognostic value. As clinical applicability of signatures can be controversial, we sought to improve our marker's clinical utility by validating its biological relevance, reproducibility in independent data sets and applicability using an independent technique. METHODS: To facilitate signature evaluation with quantitative PCR (qPCR) a novel computational procedure was used to reduce the number of signature genes without significant information loss. These genes were validated in different human cancer cell lines upon serum starvation and in a 168 xenografts panel. Analyses were then extended to breast cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient cohorts. RESULTS: Expression of the qPCR-based signature was dramatically decreased under starvation conditions and inversely correlated with tumour volume doubling time in xenografts. The signature validated in breast cancer (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.63, P
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)508-515
JournalBritish Journal of Cancer
Volume107
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Jul 2012

Keywords

  • biomarkers
  • gene expression microarray
  • statistical analysis
  • prognosis
  • proliferation

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