METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CANCERS ASSOCIATED WITH HEDGEHOG SIGNALING

摘要

Provided herein are methods, assays and kits for evaluating a sample, e.g., a sample obtained from a cancer patient, to detect one or more hedgehog biomarkers and/or one or more cilium markers. Thus, the invention can be used, inter alia, as a means to identify patients likely to benefit from administration of one or more hedgehog inhibitors, alone or in combination with therapeutic agents; to predict a time course of disease or a probability of a significant event in the disease of a cancer patient; to stratify patient populations; and/or to more effectively treat or prevent a cancer or a tumor associated with hedgehog signaling.

主权项

1. A method for evaluating a cancer or tumor sample, comprising detecting a hedgehog-associated biomarker chosen from one or more of nuclear Gli1, the presence or absence of a cilium marker, an alteration in desmoplasia, or an alteration in a pericytic marker, in the sample, wherein one or more of: an increase in nuclear Gli1, the presence of the cilium marker, an alteration in desmoplasia, or an increased level of the pericytic marker, indicates an increased likelihood of responsiveness of the cancer or tumor to a hedgehog inhibitor.