Gene maps help with cancer treatment

in the February issue of Nature Genetics, Frank Holstege and colleagues report on a way to analyze primary tumors and predict their progression and diffusion rates, helping to improve diagnosis, treatment and outcomes in patients.
HNSCC, the fifth most malignant cancer in humans, was studied by researchers. Because treatments depend primarily on the progression of the cancer, early diagnosis is important. Moreover, the detection of local lymph node metastasis is particularly critical for the choice of treatment options. Precursor
gene
expression map allows for faster and more accurate early diagnosis of patients at risk of lymphatic metastasis.
researchers have maeded a gene expression map of HNSCC tumors. By comparing the gene expression maps of HNSCC patients with normal people, they identified genes associated with disease development. A study of another group of independent patients proved that their results were valid, suggesting that the new method was able to predict the progress of lymph node metastasis with greater accuracy than the clinical diagnostic methods currently in use.