Validation Studies of Biomarkers for Precision Radiation Oncology in Locally Advanced Solid Tumors

Overview

Despite the common application of radiotherapy in cancer treatment, the prediction of radiosensitivity and treatment response has not yet entered the era of precision medicine. Therefore, development of genome-based methods for predicting radiosensitivity and treatment response is a central goal of radiation oncology. In the previous study, the investigators have identified a set of novel potential biomarkers associated with radiosensitivity and recurrence，through correlating patients' genomic profiles with toxicity, disease progression and overall survival after RT.

Researchers have long recognized that individual differences in sensitivity to radiation are caused by genetic variations and implicated multiple key pathways that might explain radiation toxicity. Normal tissue toxicity is a complex trait that involves the combined effect of a multitude of genes and pathways, and also dynamic interactions with the evolving cancer genome. The effect size of any individual factor is likely small. As a consequence, candidate gene approach and genome-wide association studies rarely lead to the identification of genetic determinants of radiation toxicity. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS), on the other hand, has become increasingly routine in the clinic and would allow simultaneous assessment of multiple genetic alterations.

Conditions

Interventions