Personalised Cancer Treatment: Known Markers in Treatment

Known marker

Cancers they’re associated with / may benefit from targeted therapy

Related treatment/response to treatment

ALK[EB1] – anaplastic lymphoma kinase (*)

• Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma
• Familial neuroblastoma (nerve cell)
• Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

• Crizotinib (Xalkori®)
• Pemetrexed (Alimta®)

AR – androgen receptor

• Bladder
• Breast
• NSCLC
• Ovarian
• Prostate

• Abarelix (Plenaxis®)
• Bicalutamide (Casodex®)
• Flutamide (Eulexin®)
• Gonadorelin (Factrel®)
• Goserelin (Zoladex®)
• Leuprolide (Lupron®)

BRAF – v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1

• Colon
• Lung
• Melanoma (skin)
• Nervous system
• Thyroid

• Cetuximab (Erbitux®)
• Panitumumab (Vectibix®)
• Vemurafenib (Zelboraf®)

BRCA1 – breast cancer susceptibility gene 1

• Breast
• Lung
• Ovarian

• Cisplatin (Platinol®)
• Prophylactic surgery (prevention)

BRCA2 – breast cancer susceptibility gene 2

• Breast
• Ovarian

• Tamoxifen (Nolvadex®)
• Prophylactic surgery (prevention)

c-Kit/CD117/SCFR – mast stem cell factor receptor (*)

• Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
• Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST)
• Melanoma

• Imatinib (Gleevec®)
• Sorafenib (Nexavar®)
• Sunitinib (Sutent®)

c-MET/HGFR – mesenchymal epithelial transition factor/hepatocyte growth factor receptor

• NSCLC
• Ovarian

• Erlotinib (Tarceva®)
• Gefitinib (Iressa®)

COX-2/PTGS2 - cyclooxygenase-2/ prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-2

• NSCLC

• Celecoxib (Celebrex®)

EGFR/ErbB-1/HER1 - epidermal growth factor receptor (*)

• NSCLC

• Cetuximab (Erbitux®)
• Erlotinib (Tarceva®)
• Gefitinib (Iressa®)
• Panitumumab (Vectibix®)

ER - oestrogen receptor (*)

• Breast
• Female reproductive tract (cervical, fallopian, ovarian, uterine)

• Anastrazole (Arimidex®)
• Exemestane (Aromasin®)
• Fulvestrant (Faslodex®)
• Goserelin (Zoladex®)
• Letrozole (Femara®)
• Leuprolide (Eligard®, Lupron®, Viadur®)
• Medroxyprogesterone, (Provera®, Amen®, Curretab®, Cycrin®)
• Megestrol acetate (Megace®, Megace® ES)
• Tamoxifen (Nolvadex®)
• Toremifene (Fareston®)

ERCC1 - excision repair cross-complementation group 1

• Bladder
• Colorectal
• Gastric
• Lung (NSCLC and SCLC)
• Ovarian

• Carboplatin (Paraplatin®)
• Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin®)

HER2/HER2neu/ErbB-2 - human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (*)

• Breast
• Colorectal
• Gastric
• Gastroesophageal
• Ovarian

• Doxorubicin (Adriamycin®, Rubex®)
• Epirubicin (Ellence®)
• Lapatinib (Tykerb®)
• Liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx®, Myocet®),
• Trastuzumab (Herceptin®)

KRAS - Kirsten murine sarcoma virus (*)

• Colon
• NSCLC
• Pancreatic

• Cetuximab (Erbitux®)
• Erlotinib (Tarceva®)
• Gefitinib (Iressa®)
• Panitumumab (Vectibix®)

MGMT - O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase

• Breast
• Glioblastoma multiforme (brain)
• Melanoma
• NSCLC
• Oesophageal
• Oligodendrogliomas
• Pituitary gland carcinoma

• Resistant to temozolomide (Temodar®)

MRP1 - multidrug resistance-associated protein 1

• Breast
• Head and neck
• Lymphoma

• Resistant to doxorubicin (Adrimycin®), vinca alkaloids, methotrexate (Trexall®)

PGP - p-glycoprotein

• Breast
• Head and neck
• Lymphoma
• Ovarian

• Resistant to doxorubicin (Adriamycin®), epirubicin (Ellence®), liposomal-doxorubicin (Doxil®), paclitaxel (Taxol®), docetaxel (Taxotere®), vinblastine (Velban®), vincristine (Oncovin®), vinorelbine (Navelbine®)

PIK3CAα - phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha

• Breast
• Colorectal
• Gastric
• Glioblastoma
• Lung
• Ovarian

• Lapatinib (Tykerb®)
• Resistant to cetuximab (Erbitux®), panitumumab (Vectibix)
• Decreased response to trastuzumab (Herceptin®)

PR - progesterone receptor (*)

• Breast
• Female genital tract cancer
• Ovarian

• Anastrozole (Arimidex®)
• Exemestane (Aromasin®)
• Foremifene (Fareston®)
• Fulvestrant (Faslodex®)
• Gonadorelin (Factrel®)
• Goserelin (Zoladex®)
• Letrozole (Femara®)
• Leuprolide (Eligard®, Lupron®, Viadur®)
• Medroxyprogesterone (Provera®, Amen®, Curretab®, Cycrin®)
• Megestrol acetate (Megace®, Megace® ES)
• Tamoxifen (Nolvadex®)

PTEN - phosphatase and tensin homolog

• Breast
• Colon
• Glioblastoma
• Head and neck
• NSCLC

• Resistant to cetuximab (Erbitux®), erlotinib (Tarceva®), gefitinib (Iressa®), panitumumab (Vectibix®), trastuzumab (Herceptin®)

RRM1- ribonucleotide reductase subunit M1

• NSCLC
• Pancreatic

• Decreased response to gemcitabine (Gemzar®), hydroxyurea (Hydrea®, Droxia®)

SPARC - secreted protein acidic rich in cysteine

• Breast
• Gastric
• Head and neck
• Melanoma
• Pancreatic

• Albumin-bound paclitaxel/nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane®)

TLE3 - transducin-like enhancer of split

• Breast
• Ovarian

• Docetaxel (Taxotere ®)
• Paclitaxel (Taxol®),

TOPO2α - topoisomerase IIα

• Breast
• Colon
• SCLC
• Ovarian

• Doxorubicin (Adriamycin®)
• Epirubicin (Ellence®, Pharmorubucin®)
• Liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx®, Myocet®)

TS - thymidylate synthetase

• Breast
• Colon
• Gastric
• Head and neck
• Liver
• NSCLC
• Pancreatic

• Resistant to 5-fluorouracil (Adrucil®), cytarabine (Cytosar-U®), pemetrexed (Alimta®)

TUBB3 - Class III -tubulin

• NSCLC
• Ovarian

• Docetaxel (Taxotere ®)
• Paclitaxel (Taxol®)
• Vinorelbine (Navelbine®)

Known marker

Associated cancer

Role

α (alpha)-fetoprotein

• Germ cell
• Liver

Germ cell tumour staging, prognosis, response to treatment

Liver cancer diagnosis, response to treatment

β (beta)-2-microglobulin

• Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL)
• Lymphoma
• Multiple myeloma

Prognosis, response to treatment

β (beta)-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG)

• Choriocarcinoma (uterine)
• Testicular

Staging, prognosis, response to treatment

BCR-ABL fusion gene

• Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)

Diagnosis, disease status monitoring

BRAF (mutation V600E)

• Colorectal
• Melanoma

Response to targeted treatment

CA15-3/CA27.29

• Breast

Treatment success, disease recurrence

CA19-9

• Bile duct
• Gallbladder
• Gastric
• Pancreatic

Treatment success

CA-125

• Ovarian

Diagnosis, treatment response, disease recurrence

Calcitonin

• Medullary thyroid

Diagnosis, treatment success, disease recurrence

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)

• Breast
• Colorectal

Breast cancer recurrence, treatment response

Colorectal disease advance

CD20

• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)

Response to targeted treatment

Chromogranin A (CgA)

• Neuroendocrine tumours

Diagnosis, treatment response, disease recurrence

Chromosomes 3, 7, 17, 9p21

• Bladder

Disease recurrence

Cytokeratin fragments 21-1

• Lung

Disease recurrence

Fibrin/fibrinogen

• Bladder

Treatment response

Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4)

• Ovarian

Disease progression, disease recurrence

Immunoglobulins (antibodies)

• Multiple myeloma (MM)
• Waldenström macroglobulinemia (blood)

Diagnosis, treatment response, disease recurrence

Lactate dehydrogenase

• Germ cell tumours

Staging, prognosis, treatment response

Nuclear matrix protein 22

• Bladder

Treatment response

Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1)

• Breast

Grading, treatment planning

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)

• Prostate

Diagnosis, treatment response, disease recurrence

Thyroglobulin

• Thyroid

Treatment response, disease recurrence

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA)

• Breast

Grading, treatment planning