IU discovers test for cancer gene

IU School of Medicine researchers have developed a new breast cancer diagnostic marker licensed by the cancer diagnostics company Clarient Inc.

The cancer diagnostic marker will help physicians determine the aggression of the disease in patients that might result in some patients not having to undergo treatment for less aggressive forms of the disease.

Clarient Inc. developed a commercial test based on the research of IU School of Medicine’s Harikrishna Nakshatri, Marian J. Morrison and Sunil Badve, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

Researchers Nakshatri and Badve conducted two studies on tissue samples from about 675 patients who had been treated for breast cancer. The studies’ results discovered a biomarker that could be tested for FOXA1, a gene known to cause breast cancer.

Nakshatri and Badve found that patients who tested positive for the FOXA1 biomarker generally have a less aggressive form of the disease. Patients diagnosed with these less aggressive forms could be treated with hormone therapies as an alternative to traditional chemotherapy treatments.

Nakshatri and his colleagues have been working on the scientific development for five years and said they met some challenges on the way to finding their discovery.

“We’ve worked on this development for the past five years to create different treatment options for cancer patients and a challenge we faced was being able to obtain necessary clinical material,” Nakshatri said.

The development of the biomarker will reduce costs that can result from extensive testing and expensive treatments such as chemotherapy.

Nakshatri and Badve said the discovery of a biomarker that could detect the level of the cancer’s aggression could make cancer treatments more effective and affordable.
“Even in a developing country, a third-world country, these things can be easily done,” Nakshatri said in a press release.

St. Vincent’s oncological registered nurse Kristen Hall-Murray said she is excited about the recent development and the positive effects it could have on her patients’ lives.

“Not having to undergo unnecessary chemotherapy could only be in the favor of the patient,” Hall-Murray said. “For patients to not have to deal with all of the side effects and economical and environmental ramifications would be a blessing. The social stress and stigma these patients go through when undergoing chemotherapy is hard for them and to alleviate that will be beneficial.”