Abstract
[Purpose] To identify a set of genes related to thermoradiosensitivity of cervical carcinoma and to establish a predictive method. [Materials and Methods] A total of 19 patients with cervical cancer (1 Stage IIIA, 11 Stage IIIB, 5 Stage IVA, and 2 Stage IVB) who underwent definitive thermoradiotherapy between May 1995 and August 2001 were included in this study. We compared the expression profiles of 8 thermoradiosensitive and 11 thermoradioresistant tumors obtained by punch biopsy before treatment using a cDNA microarray consisting of 23,040 human genes. [Results] We selected 35 genes on the basis of a clustering analysis, and confirmed the validity of these genes with a cross validation test. Some of these genes were already known to be associated with apoptosis (BIK, TEGT), hypoxia-inducible gene (HIF1A), and tumor cell invasion and metastasis (PLAU, CD44). We developed a "Predictive Score" system that could clearly separate the thermoradiosensitive group from the thermoradioresistant one. [Conclusion] These results from the treatment program between May 1995 and August 2001 showed that by using gene-expression profiles we can predict outcome of thermoradiotherapy for advanced cervical carcinoma. A "Predictive Score" system was developed that could clearly separate the thermoradiosensitive group from the thermoradioresistant group. These results may eventually lead to the achievement of "personalized therapy" for this disease.
