Columbia Technology Ventures

Prognostic markers for predicting prostate cancer outcome

This technology describes a gene signature that accurately predicts metastatic potential and therapeutic responsiveness in prostate cancer for potential use in prognostic tests.

Unmet Need: Non-invasive tests for identifying aggressive prostate tumors

Current methods to diagnose prostate cancer rely on tumor biopsies and blood tests for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). However, neither method can predict a localized tumor’s metastatic potential or responsiveness to anti-androgen therapy. Despite efforts to classify prostate cancer based on molecular subtypes, there is currently no functional assay that uses molecular markers to accurately predict the progression and aggressiveness of prostate cancer.

The Technology: Molecular markers for metastasis risk and therapeutic response in prostate cancer

This technology is a gene signature that predicts disease progression and therapeutic response in prostate cancer. The identified 16 genes, collectively termed META-16, have implicated roles in driving metastasis of localized prostate tumors. When applied to patient data, META-16 robustly predicts time to metastasis and response to anti-androgen therapy. As such, this technology can potentially be used in prognostic tests for prostate cancer aggressiveness for improved guidance of each patient’s treatment strategy.

This technology has been published in Nature Cancer and is featured in this Columbia News article.

Applications:

  • Prognostic assay for predicting metastatic potential of prostate tumors
  • Prognostic assay for predicting response to anti-androgen therapy in prostate cancer patients
  • Tool for developing therapies against metastatic prostate cancer

Advantages:

  • Accurately predicts disease progression and response to therapy
  • Allows for early intervention in aggressive prostate cancer
  • Non-invasive
  • Utilizes a disease-relevant gene signature

Lead Inventor:

Cory Abate-Shen, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

Related Publications:

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