14 DAY TRIAL // A group of scientists has created a genetic test that enables doctors to detect the potential eye cancers have of spreading to other parts of the body. The liver is usually targeted more often than other organs, and liver cancers are very dangerous. Therefore, the test may help determine metastasis risks.
The investigation conducted to cover the new instrument was carried out at a total of 12 medical centers in Canada and the United States, and covered 459 patients. In 97 percent of cases, the test was able to classify tumors correctly, the team behind the study explains.
Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL) School of Medicine (WUSM) investigators say that the genetic tests assess the likelihood of ocular melanoma spreading to other parts of the body. This process is called metastasis. It represents the final stage of cancer and is untreatable.
Details of the investigation were published in the latest online issue of the esteemed medical journal Ophthalmology, and it will also appear in an upcoming print issue of the publication. The assessment tool will help oncologists begin treatments very early on, if the situation calls for it.
Ocular oncologists and their patients will benefit the most from the new study. Since the genetic test can quickly reveal any spread of the cancer, treatments could begin a lot sooner than currently possible.
“When the cancer spreads beyond the eye, it’s unlikely any therapy is going to be effective. But it’s very possible that we can develop treatments to slow the growth of metastatic tumors,” says the principal investigator of the study, WUSM expert J. William Harbour, MD.
“The real importance of this test is that by identifying the type of tumor a patient has, we can first remove the tumor from the eye with surgery or radiation and then get those individuals at high risk into clinical trials that might be able to help them live longer,” he goes on to say.
Official statistics indicate that around 2,000 people develop eye melanoma in the United States every year. When the condition spreads beyond the eye, the cancer becomes deadly. Experts want to ensure that this happens in as few cases as possible.
“We went through a number of sophisticated algorithms and validations, and we came up with a group of 12 genes. We also included three more genes that don’t change whether they are in tumor tissue or healthy tissue. Those genes act as our ‘controls’ in this prognostic test,” the expert says of the new test.
Harbour holds an appointment as the Paul A. Cibis distinguished professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at WUSM. “We won’t have to use high-intensity surveillance on everyone, only on those patients with a class 2 molecular signature, because they’re the ones at risk for metastatic cancer,” he concludes.