A recent study reports that a 4-gene expression ratio test reliably predicts survival of patients diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the test was developed by Dr. Raphael Bueno from Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Bueno and his colleagues found that patients assigned by the test to a “good outcome†group had significantly higher post-surgery survival than the average mesothelioma survival rate, and those assigned to the “poor outcome†group survived significantly less than the average.
Though possibly disheartening, this test can be useful for doctors and patients deciding on a course of action after diagnosis. For example, surgery would not be recommended to a patient who has been determined via gene test to have a poor chance of survival, thus saving him or her valuable months.
Similar tests are being developed for other cancers including lung, bladder, prostate and breast cancer.
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