DIAGNOSTIC METHODS FOR DETERMINING TREATMENT

摘要

The present invention provides methods for identifying cancer patients susceptible to effective treatment with inhibitors of the tyrosine kinase activity of EGFR. The invention is based on the discovery that polysomy of chromosome 7 can be used to selectively identify cancer patients that are likely to be successfully treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors or agents that otherwise function similarly to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The invention is based on the use of nucleic acid technology where nucleic acid probes are allowed to hybridize to cell samples and the number of copies of particular genetic regions quantified. The methods for identifying cancer patients of the invention can be enhanced by determination of expression of pAKT protein in patient samples. The invention also contemplates the treatment of those patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.