Development, Validation, and Clinical Utility of a Six-gene Signature to Predict Aggressive Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Molecular signatures in prostate cancer (PCa) tissue can provide useful prognostic information to improve the understanding of a patient's risk of harbouring aggressive disease. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a gene signature that adds independent prognostic information to clinical parameters for better treatment decisions and patient management. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Expression of 14 genes was evaluated in radical prostatectomy (RP) tissue from an Irish cohort of PCa patients (n = 426). A six-gene molecular risk score (MRS) was identified with strong prognostic performance to predict adverse pathology (AP) at RP or biochemical recurrence (BCR). The MRS was combined with the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA) score, to create a molecular and clinical risk score (MCRS), and validated in a Swedish cohort (n = 203). OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The primary AP outcome was assessed by the likelihood ratio statistics and area under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUC) from logistic regression models. The secondary time to BCR outcome was assessed by likelihood ratio statistics and C-indexes from Cox proportional hazard regression models. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The six-gene signature was significantly (p < 0.0001) prognostic and added significant prognostic value to clinicopathological features for AP and BCR outcomes. For both outcomes, both the MRS and the MCRS increased the AUC/C-index when added to European Association of Urology (EAU) and CAPRA scores. Limitations include the retrospective nature of this study. CONCLUSIONS: The six-gene signature has strong performance for the prediction of AP and BCR in an independent clinical validation study. MCRS improves prognostic evaluation and can optimise patient management after RP. PATIENT SUMMARY: We found that the expression panel of six genes can help predict whether a patient is likely to have a disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy surgery.

Analytical Validation of a Novel 6-Gene Signature for Prediction of Distant Recurrence in Estrogen Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative, Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: OncoMasTR is a recently developed multigene prognostic test for early-stage breast cancer. The test has been developed in a kit-based format for decentralized deployment in molecular pathology laboratories. The analytical performance characteristics of the OncoMasTR test are described in this study. METHODS: Expression levels of 6 genes were measured by 1-step reverse transcription-quantitative PCR on RNA samples prepared from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) breast tumor specimens. Assay precision, reproducibility, input range, and interference were determined using FFPE-derived RNA samples representative of low and high prognostic risk scores. A pooled RNA sample derived from 6 FFPE breast tumor specimens was used to establish the linear range, limit of detection, and amplification efficiency of the individual gene expression assays. RESULTS: The overall precision of the OncoMasTR test was high with an SD of 0.16, which represents less than 2% of the 10-unit risk score range. Test results were reproducible across 4 testing sites, with correlation coefficients of 0.94 to 0.96 for the continuous risk score and concordance of 86% to 96% in low-/high-risk sample classification. Consistent risk scores were obtained across a > 100-fold RNA input range. Individual gene expression assays were linear up to quantification cycle values of 36.0 to 36.9, with amplification efficiencies of 80% to 102%. Test results were not influenced by agents used during RNA isolation, by low levels of copurified genomic DNA, or by moderate levels of copurified adjacent nontumor tissue. CONCLUSION: The OncoMasTR prognostic test displays robust analytical performance that is suitable for deployment by local pathology laboratories for decentralized use.

Validation of the OncoMasTR Risk Score in Estrogen Receptor-Positive/HER2-Negative Patients: A TransATAC study.

PURPOSE: To test the validity of OncoMasTR Molecular Score (OMm), OMclin1, and OncoMasTR Risk Score (OMclin2) prognostic scores for prediction of distant recurrence (DR) in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer treated with 5 years' endocrine therapy only and compare their performance with the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score (RS). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: OMm incorporates three master transcription regulator genes. OMclin1 combines OMm, tumor size, grade, and nodal status; OMclin2 incorporates OMm, tumor size, and nodal status. OMclin1 and OMclin2 were evaluated for 646 postmenopausal patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative primary breast cancer with 0-3 involved lymph nodes in TransATAC. Patients were randomized to 5 years' anastrozole or tamoxifen without chemotherapy. RS was available in all cases. We used likelihood ratio-χ 2, C-index, and Kaplan-Meier analyses to assess prognostic information. RESULTS: OMm, OMclin1, and OMclin2 were highly prognostic for prediction of DR in years 0-10 among all patients [likelihood ratio (LR)-χ 2 = 25.4, 48.7, and 45.0, respectively, all P < 0.001; C-index = 0.67, 0.71, and 0.71, respectively], compared with RS (LR-χ 2 = 18.8; P < 0.001; C-index = 0.63). All three scores provided significant additional prognostic value beyond clinical treatment score, Nottingham Prognostic Index, and Ki67. OMclin1 and OMclin2 categorized 190 and 267 node-negative patients as low risk (DR rates: 2.9% and 4.9%, respectively). In comparison, RS categorized 296 node-negative patients as low-risk and 128 patients as intermediate-risk (DR rate: 6.6% and 17.3%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: OMm, OMclin1, and OMclin2 were highly prognostic for early and late DR in women with early-stage ER-positive breast cancer receiving 5 years' endocrine therapy. In TransATAC, OMclin1 and the OncoMasTR Risk Score (OMclin2) were superior to RS in identifying patients at increased risk of DR.