New Approaches in Personalized Medicine:

Genomic Testing to Predict Early ADT Response

Categories: Winter 2019
Tumors have unique genomic signatures based on their genetic makeup, and this genetic makeup can affect how well the cancer will respond to hormone therapy. Recently, a research team developed a genomic test that may help predict which patients with high-risk prostate cancer would benefit from early androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) immediately after having a prostatectomy.

Tumors have unique genomic signatures based on their genetic makeup, and this genetic makeup can affect how well the cancer will respond to hormone therapy. Recently, a research team developed a genomic test that may help predict which patients with high-risk prostate cancer would benefit from early androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) immediately after having a prostatectomy.

The researchers identified specific genes expressed in prostate tumors that respond well to ADT and combined them to make the genomic signature, called an ADT Response Signature. Patients with high scores on a genomic test assessing the ADT Response Signature had a reduced risk of developing metastatic tumors after 10 years if they had early (adjuvant) ADT immediately following their radical prostatectomies. Patients with low scores on the genomic test had similar rates of metastatic cancer after 10 years whether they had adjuvant ADT or not.

This suggests that men with high scores on the genomic test would benefit from having early ADT, while patients with low scores do not need to immediately undergo ADT after surgery. In the future, this genomic test could help guide individual decisions about when to start ADT treatment after a radical prostatectomy.

Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 15;24(16):3908-3916. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-2745. Epub 2018 May 14

Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 15;24(16):3908-3916. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-2745. Epub 2018 May 14

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