Patent ID: 8173366

Claim:
A method of identifying a patient suffering from a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma which is likely to be refractory to radiation therapy comprising (i) identifying an 11q deletion in a patient sample considered to be representative of the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; (ii) identifying, in the patient sample, overexpression of a gene selected from the group consisting of ATR, CHEK1, CCND1, or a combination thereof; (iii) identifying, in the patient sample, a decrease or absence of p53 expression and/or activity, wherein an 11q deletion, and overexpression of ATR, CHEK1, CCND1, or a combination thereof, and a decrease or absence of p53 expression and/or activity indicates that the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is likely to be refractory to radiation therapy and may benefit from inhibition of the ATR/CHEK1 pathway.