Introduction

A list of marker genes and a computational method to analyse them, capable of predicting the survival of a patient 5 years after the removal of the tumor tissue, depending on the chosen therapy. Measurements made on a group of 2000 patients indicate a prognostic capacity superior to that of the methods currently in use.

Technical features

Breast cancer is ranked amongst the leading causes of death in Europe. The incidence of new cases in Europe in 2019 is 92.9 women per 100,000 women per year; while the annual death rate in Europe is 23.1 per 100,000 women. For a patient with breast cancer who has undergone tumour tissue removal, it is necessary to decide on a post-operative treatment path that prevents the recurrence of the tumour disease and the formation of metastasis. This invention includes an innovative methodology to generate molecular profiles of breast cancer patients, and a panel of biomarkers (messenger RNA f protein coding genes) whose expression value is useful for predicting survival of patients at 5 years, taking into account supportive therapy: chemotherapy, radiotherapy or endocrine therapy applied. We attain prediction accuracy of 80% (on some subtypes of 90%).

Possible Applications

• Prognostic tool to aid in making decisions on breast cancer therapy;
• Tool to identify patients who do not benefit from the usual therapies, to be directed to the experimentation of new drugs.

Advantages

• Possibility to customize the treatment with a higher chance of survival;
• A prognostic tool that can confirms the clinical choices;
• Discrimination of patients in need of expensive and invasive care;
• Reduced prediction errors.