BIOLOGICAL MARKERS PREDICTIVE OF ANTI-CANCER RESPONSE TO EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR KINASE INHIBITORS

摘要

The present invention provides diagnostic methods for predicting the effectiveness of treatment of a cancer patient with an EGFR kinase inhibitor. These methods are based on the surprising discovery that the effectiveness of treatment with an EGFR kinase inhibitor is predicted by whether a patient's tumor cells express a high or a low level of the biomarkers vimentin and E-cadherin, such that patients whose tumors express a high level of at least one of the biomarkers vimentin and E-cadherin have a longer overall survival and progression free survival than patients whose tumors express a low level of both vimentin and E-cadherin. The present invention further provides a method for treating tumors or tumor metastases in a patient, comprising the steps of diagnosing a patient's likely responsiveness to an EGFR kinase inhibitor by assessing whether tumor cells express a high level of at least one of the biomarkers vimentin and E-cadherin, and administering to said patient a therapeutically effective amount of an EGFR kinase inhibitor (e.g. erlotinib), particularly when effectiveness of the inhibitor is predicted.