一種基因檢測(cè)能夠預(yù)測(cè)早期肺癌患者是否需要化療，那些患者能夠避免藥物的毒性作用。

這種新型檢測(cè)方法叫做肺Metagene預(yù)測(cè)儀，能夠掃描數(shù)以千計(jì)的基因，以鑒別個(gè)體腫瘤中的基因活性模式，預(yù)測(cè)那些患者可能會(huì)疾病復(fù)發(fā)。復(fù)發(fā)的腫瘤通常是致命的，因此鑒別出面臨危險(xiǎn)的患者進(jìn)行治療是十分重要的。

這項(xiàng)檢測(cè)方法是由Duke大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)中心(Durham, NC, USA)的科學(xué)家發(fā)明的，通過(guò)檢測(cè)早期肺癌患者的基因活性，從而得到疾病的轉(zhuǎn)歸。Duke大學(xué)的科學(xué)家在129例患者中通過(guò)比較患者的預(yù)后證實(shí)了基因檢測(cè)的效果。該項(xiàng)檢測(cè)預(yù)測(cè)復(fù)發(fā)危險(xiǎn)的準(zhǔn)確性為90％。這些結(jié)果在2006年8月的《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)期刊》上進(jìn)行了報(bào)道。
 
Test Predicts Lung-Cancer Recurrence Risk
 
A genomic test predicts which patients with early-stage lung cancer will need chemotherapy and which patients can avoid the toxic regimen of drugs.

The new test, called the Lung Metagene Predictor, scans thousands of genes to identify patterns of gene activity in individual tumors that indicate which patients are likely to suffer a recurrence of disease. Recurrent tumors are typically fatal, so identifying at-risk patients is critical to properly treating them.

The test was developed by scientists at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC, USA), who analyzed the activity of genes from early-stage lung cancer patients whose disease outcomes were known. The Duke scientists validated the genomic test in 129 patients by comparing the test’s predictions with the patients’ actual outcomes. The test predicted the risk of recurrence with 90% accuracy. The findings were published in the August 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.