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Gene profile may predict chemo response

BOSTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Boston scientists say a newly identified gene expression profile might help predict how patients with advanced ovarian cancer will respond to chemotherapy.

The findings by researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are said to establish further an important role for microarray gene profiling as a predictor of clinical outcome in ovarian cancer -- and might eventually provide clinicians with insights into the mechanisms of drug resistance.

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"In many patients with advanced ovarian cancer, post-operative treatment with first-line chemotherapy will result in an excellent clinical response," said senior author Dr. Stephen Cannistra, director of gynecologic oncology at the medical center and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

"However," he added, "due to the lingering presence of chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells, most patients will unfortunately experience a relapse. The goal of our current research is to help determine which patients will relapse and which will not, and to better understand the reasons for this."

The study is described in the current issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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