Diagnosis and prognosis of cancers in GI tract

DOMAIN Although the incidence of gastric carcinoma (tumour in stomach) is declining, this disease is still the second most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. Gastric carcinomas are often not detected until at an advanced stage; consequently, the 5-year survival rates are low and most often in the order of 10-20%. Variables such as size, microscopic differentiation and growth pattern, depth of infiltration as well as metastases in regional lymph nodes or in remote organs and tissues, all play important roles in treatment and prognosis. Carcinomas of the stomach have been the subject of numerous kinds of clinico-pathological classifications, often based on gross features and/or microscopic growth pattern and differentiation.

DESCRIPTION NTNU researchers have identified molecular biomarkers important for diagnosis and prognosis of gastric carcinomas. Gastric carcinomas were subjected to cDNA microarray analysis. Using the ROSETTA rough-set based learning system, good classifiers were generated for gene-expression based prediction of intestinal or diffuse growth pattern according to Laurén’s classification and presence of lymph node metastases.

The research group is presenting the first study on gastric carcinoma in which molecular classification has been achieved for more than one clinico- pathological parameter based on micro-array gene expression profiles.

UNIQUE SELLING POINTS
• Simple and sensitive approach to diagnose gastric carcinoma using serum or plasma samples

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
• Diagnostic kit for gastric carcinoma

STATE OF DEVELOPMENT
• Ongoing clinical studies at St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim

Inventor(s): Arne K Sandvik, Astrid Lægreid, Kristin G Nørsett

Type of Offer: Licensing



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