Patent ID: 8628931

Claim:
A method for predicting the response of a subject with cancer to a conventional chemotherapeutic agent, comprising measuring the phosphorylation state of at least one member of the mTOR pathway, and/or of at least one member of an interconnected polypeptide pathway, in a cancer tissue or cancer cell sample from the subject, wherein the member of the interconnected polypeptide pathway (i) is from the Akt pathway, (ii) is from the IRS pathway, (iii) is pRb, and/or (iv) is a substrate of Akt, comparing the measured phosphorylation state to a baseline value to determine whether or not it is elevated, and concluding, if the phosphorylation state is elevated, that the subject is a non-responder to the conventional chemotherapeutic agent, or concluding, if the phosphorylation state is not elevated, that the subject is a responder to the conventional chemotherapeutic agent.