Patent ID: 7132238
Filing Date: 2006-11-07
Classification: A61P,C12Q

Abstract:
1. A method of treating a tumor with a platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimen comprising: (a) obtaining a tissue sample of the tumor and fixing the sample, to obtain a fixed tumor sample; (b) isolating mRNA from the fixed sample in the presence of an effective amount of a chaotrophic agent by first heating the tissue sample in a solution comprising an effective concentration of a chaotrophic compound to a temperature in the range of about 50 to about 100° C. for a time period of 5 to 120 minutes and recovering said mRNA from said chaotropic solution; and (c) subjecting the mRNA to amplification using a pair of oligonucleotide primers capable of amplifying a region of the Excision Repair Cross-Complementing 1 (ERCC1) gene, to obtain an amplified sample; (d) determining the amount of ERCC1 mRNA relative to the quantity of an internal control gene's mRNA; and (f) treating the tumor, wherein the treatment comprises providing a platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimen comprising a genotoxic agent when the determined gene expression level for ERCC1 gene is below a predetermined threshold value.