检测癌基因TP53或可反映卵巢癌患者化疗效果

“这将是一个很好的方法来检测专门针对癌细胞的新类型药物，如果它们不起作用，能将病人在治疗中的副作用下分离出来”--Peter Johnson教授，英国癌症研究

通过使用单一的血检，科学家们可能有能力快速预测卵巢癌病人可能会有怎样的化疗效果。--根据发表在PLOS医学，英国癌症研究资助的研究。

在40位高级浆液性卵巢癌研究中，研究者在每个化疗之前检测肿瘤DNA，将从血样中检测。通过检测突变癌症基因TP53水平，他们能发现在治疗效果良好的情况下，这个循环的DNA水平快速下降。

研究者检测病人在治疗前后这个循环肿瘤DNA水平。他们发现，一个化疗周期后，血液中肿瘤DNA数量下降超过一半的患者，相对于肿瘤DNA计数没有下降的病人，疾病进展需要更长的时间。它们也显示血液中肿瘤DNA水平反映化疗前进行的扫描中看到的癌症数量。

这个检测对高级浆液性卵巢癌病人特别有用，因为在超过99%的有这种疾病的病人中发现突变癌基因 TP53。这种类型占所有卵巢癌的三分之二。

James Brenton 先生，剑桥大学这项研究的主要发起人之一，说：“需要一个检测能快速发现卵巢癌病人是否能在化疗中受益。这是早期结果，但是是否更大的试验是成功的，这个检测要看血液中肿瘤DNA循环，这将是一个很便宜，快捷，容易的方法获取这些信息。”

Peter Johnson 教授，英国癌症研究中心首席临床医生，说：“虽然我们做出了很大进步，但是我们需要为卵巢癌患者做更多事情，因为只有三例患者存活10年或更长。早期做一个检测告诉我们化疗是否是在起作用，将会是个很大帮助，将来这种方法可能对其他类型疾病的治疗会非常有用，可以有更好的治疗。这会是一个检测靶向治疗癌细胞新型药物的好方法，如果这种新药物不起作用，能够使病人在治疗中的副作用分离出来。（麻省医疗国际赵霞译）

参考：

* Parkinson et al., Exploratory analysis of TP53 mutations in circulating tumour DNA as biomarkers of treatment response for patients with relapsed high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma: a retrospective study

New test could detect ovarian cancer patients who are strongly responding to treatment

                                                          20 December 2016

                                                          Cancer Research UK

"This could be a good way to test new types of drugs that target cancer cells specifically and spare patients the side effects from treatments if they are not working.” -Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK

Scientists might be able to quickly predict how ovarian cancer patients are likely to respond to chemotherapy treatment using a simple blood test, according to a Cancer Research UK-funded study published in PLOS Medicine

In a study of 40 patients with high grade serous ovarian cancer, the researchers monitored tumour DNA that could be detected in a blood sample taken before each chemotherapy treatment. By measuring the levels of the mutated cancer gene TP53 they found those who responded well to treatment had a rapid fall in the levels of this circulating DNA.

The researchers tested levels of this circulating tumour DNA in patients before and after treatment. They found that it took longer for the disease to progress in patients whose tumour DNA count in the blood fell by more than a half after one cycle of chemotherapy, compared with patients whose DNA count did not drop. They also showed that the level of tumour DNA in the blood reflects the amount of cancer seen on scans carried out before chemotherapy.

This test may be particularly useful for patients with high grade serous ovarian cancer because the mutated cancer gene TP53 is found in more than 99 per cent of patients with this form of the disease. This type represents two thirds of all ovarian cancers.

Dr James Brenton, one of the lead authors of the study at the University of Cambridge, said: “There’s a need for a test to find out quickly whether ovarian cancer patients are benefiting from chemotherapy. These are early results, but if bigger trials are successful, this test looking at the tumour DNA circulating in the blood could be a cheap, quick and easy way to get this information.”

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said: “Although we’re making great progress, we still have more to do for people with ovarian cancer, as only one in three patients survive for 10 years or longer. Having a test to tell us early on whether chemotherapy is working would be a big help, and in the future might be a useful way to suggest other types of treatment that could work better. This could be a good way to test new types of drugs that target cancer cells specifically and spare patients the side effects from treatments if they are not working.

                                  ENDS

For media enquiries please contact the Cancer Research UK press office on +44 203 469 8300 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on +44 7050 264 059.

References

* Parkinson et al., Exploratory analysis of TP53 mutations in circulating tumour DNA as biomarkers of treatment response for patients with relapsed high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma: a retrospective study