Methods and Compositions for the Diagnosis of Neuroendocrine Lung Cancer

Background:
The National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize methods for the diagnosis of neuroendocrine lung cancer.

Technology:
This technology relates to the use of cDNA microarrays to facilitate the identification of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors. In order to identify molecular markers that could be used to classify pulmonary tumors, the inventors examined the gene expression profiles of clinical samples from patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC), and typical carcinoma (TC) tumors by cDNA microarray analysis. They detected hybridization between cDNA from tumor cells and DNA from a panel of 8,897 human genes. Gene expression was found to be nonrandom and to exhibit highly significant clustering that divided the tumors into their assigned World Health Organization (WHO) classification with 100% accuracy. The inventors concluded that pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors could be classified based on the genome-wide expression profile of the clinical samples without further manipulations. This technology provides an accurate, rapid, and easy method to diagnose pulmonary neuroendocrine cancer and to differentiate three types of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors.

R&D Status:
The technology is currently in the pre-clinical stage of development.

IP Status:
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/533,459 filed 02 May 2005

Value Proposition:

• Ability to diagnose pulmonary neuroendocrine cancer accurately, rapidly, and efficiently
• Ability to differentiate three types of pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors

Contact Information:
John D. Hewes, Ph.D., NCI Technology Transfer Center
Phone: 301-435-3121
E-mail: Hewesj@mail.nih.gov

Reference:  #648 KB

Posted 04/28/2008