Patent ID: 6602670
Filing Date: 2003-08-05
Classification: A61P,C12Q

Abstract:
A method for determining a platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimen for treating a tumor in a patient 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 tumor sample; wherein, the fixed tumor sample is heated in the presence of an effective concentration of a chaotrophic agent and wherein the heating occurs at a temperature from about 50Â° to about 100Â° C.; (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 amplified ERCC1 mRNA in the amplified sample; (e) comparing the amount of ERCC1 mRNA from step (d) to an amount of mRNA of an internal control gene; and (f) determining a platinum-based chemotherapeutic regimen based on the amount of ERCC1 mRNA in the amplified sample and a predetermined threshold level for ERCC1 gene expression.