Patent ID: 9023819
Filing Date: 2015-05-05
Classification: A61K,A61P

Abstract:
1. A method for treating a subject having or suspected of having breast cancer associated with aberrant gene hypomethylation in estrogen receptor (ER) non-expressing cancer cells, the subject having normal cells and ER non-expressing cancer cells that arose from the normal cells due to aberrant hypomethylation of one or more genes, each of the one or more genes having a nucleotide sequence including a promoter and a first exon region, the method comprising: subjecting the subject to an examination to compare the methylation profile of genes in the normal cells of the subject and that in the ER non-expressing cancer cells of the subject so as to determine which gene is hypomethylated in the ER non-expressing cancer cells of the subject; and introducing a methylated polynucleotide into the ER non-expressing cancer cells of the subject, the methylated polynucleotide being selected from the group consisting of: (i) a single-stranded DNA molecule, which has a nucleotide sequence designed based on a hypomethylated gene determined by the examination, the nucleotide sequence of the single-stranded DNA molecule being identical to or fully complementary to a portion of the nucleotide sequence of the hypomethylated gene at the promoter and/or the first exon region thereof, wherein the hypomethylated gene is the endosulfine alpha gene (ENSA); (ii) a double-stranded DNA molecule, one strand of which has a nucleotide sequence designed based on a hypomethylated gene determined by the examination, the nucleotide sequence of said one strand of the double-stranded DNA molecule being identical to or fully complementary to a portion of the nucleotide sequence of the hypomethylated gene at the promoter and/or the first exon region thereof, wherein the hypomethylated gene is ENSA; and (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii), wherein introduction of the methylated polynucleotide causes the hypomethylated gene in the ER non-expressing cancer cells to have a degree of methylation at the promoter and/or the first exon region thereof higher than that before the methylated polynucleotide is introduced into the ER non-expressing cancer cells, thereby causing the expression of the hypomethylated gene to be terminated.