CANCER BIOMARKERS TO PREDICT RECURRENCE AND METASTATIC POTENTIAL

Abstract
Described herein are methods for predicting recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a prostate cancer in a subject. In certain embodiments, the methods comprise analyzing a sample from a subject for aberrant expression patters of one or more biomarkers disclosed herein. An increase or decrease in one or more biomarkers as compared to a standard indicates a recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancer.
Description
BACKGROUND

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed noncutaneous neoplasm and second most common cause of cancer-related mortality in Western men. One of the important challenges in current prostate cancer research is to develop effective methods to determine whether a patient is likely to progress to the aggressive, metastatic disease in order to aid clinicians in deciding the appropriate course of treatment.


Various approaches using clinical parameters including prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels at time of initial diagnosis have been explored to predict disease progression. Although these models work well for men with extreme levels of PSA, the majority of men fall within an intermediate range characterized by a PSA level between 4-10 ng/ml and a Gleason score of 6 or 7. Current prognostic models of prostate cancer, including PSA, Gleason score and clinical stage fail to accurately predict disease progression, especially for men with intermediate disease. Thus there is a need for additional tests to complement and improve upon these existing approaches.


Technologies have been developed to exploit formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue samples for gene expression analysis. The DASL (cDNA-mediated Annealing, Selection, extension and Ligation) assay is a unique expression profiling platform based upon massively multiplexed RT-PCR applied in a microarray format allowing for the determination of expression of RNA isolated from FFPE tumor tissue samples in a high throughput format. See Bibikova et al., Am J Pathol 2004, 165:1799-1807 and Fan et al. Genome Res 2004, 14:878-885. The DASL assay has been used to identify a 16-gene set that correlates with prostate cancer relapse. Bibikova et al., Genomics 2007, 89:666-672. However, diagnosis of the progression for prostate cancer using molecular biomarkers is challenging because molecular expression may be limited by sampling at time of initial diagnosis, may not be present at time of initial diagnosis, or may occur as the disease progresses. See Sboner et al., BMC Med Genomics 2010, 3:8 and Nakagawa et al., PLoS ONE 2008, 3:e2318.


SUMMARY

Provided are methods of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a cancer in a subject, typically prostate cancer. The methods comprise selecting a subject at risk of recurrence, progression, or metastasis of cancer, detecting in a sample from the subject one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, LAF4, CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, EDNRA, RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, BCL2, miR-519d, miR-647, FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHEST, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and/or miR-221 to create a biomarker profile, analyzing the biomarker, and correlating an aberrant expression pattern to a heightened potential for recurrence, progression or metastasis of cancer.


In another embodiment, the biomarkers are selected from one or more of CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, and EDNRA. In certain embodiments, the panel includes at least two of the biomarkers, and typically includes at least three or at least four, or at least five, or at least six, or at least seven or at least eight biomarkers and includes at least one biomarker selected from CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, and EDNRA. In another embodiment, the biomarkers are selected from one or more, or two or more, or three or more, or four or more, or five or more, or six or more, or seven or more, or eight or more of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1, and miR-519d, and/or miR-647. Typically, one analyzes a sample from a subject for the presence of mRNA of one or more protein-coding genes RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1 and one or both microRNA of miR-519d and/or miR-647.


In certain embodiments, the panel includes at least two of the biomarkers, and typically includes at least three or at least four, or at least five, or at least six, or at least seven, or at least eight, or at least nine biomarkers and includes at least one biomarker selected from RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1, and miR-519d, and/or miR-647.


An increase or decrease in one or more of the biomarkers as compared to a standard indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize. Optionally, the methods further comprise detecting one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221.


Also provided are methods of treating a subject diagnosed with prostate cancer comprising modifying the treatment regimen of the subject based on the results of the method of predicting the recurrence, progression, and/or metastatic potential of a prostate cancer in a subject. The treatment regimen is modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS as compared to a standard, and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44 and LAF4 as compared to a standard. The treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, ABCC3, SPC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 as compared to a standard, and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, PTGDS, EDNRA, miR-136, and miR-221 as compared to a standard. The treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an increased expression of RAD23B, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, miR-519d and the decreased expression of TNFRSF1A, miR-647, and ANXA1.


Also provided are kits comprising one or more primers to detect expression of biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4. The kits can further comprise one or more primers to detect expression of biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. The kits can further comprise one or more primers to detect expression of biomarkers selected from the group consisting of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, miR-519d, and miR-647.


In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to methods of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a prostate cancer in a subject, the method comprising analyzing a sample from the subject for an aberrant expression pattern of four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or more biomarkers wherein at least one of the biomarkers is a microRNA. In certain embodiments, the mircoRNA is miR-519d, miR-647, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and/or miR-221.


In some embodiments, the panel includes at least two of the biomarkers, and typically includes at least three or at least four, or at least five, or at least six, or at least seven or at least eight biomarkers and correlates expression levels to the recurrence, progression, and potential of prostate cancer. Typically, one analyzes a sample from a subject for the presence of mRNA of one or more protein-coding genes and one or more miRNA. Typically, the subject previously had a partial or total prostate removal by surgery including portions of the prostate that contained cancerous cells.


In certain embodiments, the disclosure relates to analyzing biomarkers disclosed herein and correlating aberrant expression patterns to a likelihood of prostate cancer recurrence. Typically, analyzing comprises detecting mRNA or detecting protein levels directly such as, but not limited to, moving the samples through a separation medium and exposing fractions to antibodies with epitopes to certain sequences on the proteins, or identifying the biomarker using mass spectroscopy. Typically the mRNA or microRNA (miRNA) may be detected by amplification using primers and hybridization to a suitably labeled complimentary nucleic acid probe. Typically, the label is a fluorescent dye conjugated to the nucleic acid probe.





DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 shows data on the time to recurrence survival analysis of Prostate cancer patients. (A) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the training set of 61 patients with complete clinical data that were separated based on the expression of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, and BCL2. (B) Kaplan-Meier analysis on the 35 validation cases with complete clinical data using this mRNA panel. (C) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the training set using the combined mRNA and miRNA panel of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, hsa-miR-647, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, hsa-miR-519d, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1. (D) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the validation set using the combined mRNA and miRNA panel.



FIGS. 2A-2C show characteristics of prostate cancer patients with and without TMPRSS2-ERG fusion. FIG. 2A shows a graph demonstrating that patients with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors experienced a higher rate of biochemical recurrence opposed to those that did not have the gene fusion (log rank p-value=3.54×10−8). FIG. 2B shows a graph demonstrating that ERG expression was upregulated in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors by 3.07-fold (p=3.48×10−11, Student's t-test). FIG. 2C shows a graph confirming the microarray results presented in FIG. 2B with an RT-PCR assay. The RT-PCR assay confirmed increased ERG expression in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors (p=8.13×10-10, Student's two-sided t-test).



FIG. 3 shows validated genes differentially expressed in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors. Significance testing of genes differentially regulated in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive prostate tumors in the Toronto cohort of a 139 patients characterized on 502 genes (solid black line) was validated in a Swedish cohort of 455 patients characterized for 6,144 genes (dashed black line). Nine genes upregulated with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion in both cohorts are shown on top, while six genes downregulated in both cohorts are shown on the bottom



FIGS. 4A-4D show permutation testing of genes associated with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion. To determine significant differentially regulated genes associated with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion, 1,000 permutations of random class assignment estimated genes were performed with a false discovery rate (FDR) less than 5%. FIGS. 4A and 4B show Q-q plots of the Toronto cohort of 139 patients (FIG. 4A) and of the Swedish cohorts of 455 patients (FIG. 4B). In both cases ERG was distinctly the most overrepresented gene in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors as depicted by box plots of ERG expression intensities for the Toronto (FIG. 4C) and Swedish cohorts (FIG. 4D).



FIG. 5 shows common genes prognostic of biochemical recurrence. Univariate Cox proportional hazards regression determined genes associated with biochemical recurrence in the Toronto cohort of 139 patients and a Minnesota cohort of 596 patients. Seven genes were identified in common; five genes were associated with recurrence, and two genes were associated with non-recurrence.



FIGS. 6A and 6B show Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the Toronto cohort. FIG. 6A shows a Kaplan-Meier plot demonstrating the seven-gene expression recurrence score used to segregate patients into good and poor prognostic categories. (p=0.000167) FIG. 6B shows a Kaplan-Meier plot demonstrating that a mixed clinical model composed of Gleason score, TMPRSS2-ERG fusion status, and the seven-gene expression recurrence score is better able to prognosticate recurrence (p=4.15×10−7).



FIG. 7 shows data using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. (A) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the training set of 42 Gleason 7 cases with complete clinical data using the mRNA panel of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, and BCL2. (B) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the 19 Gleason 7 cases in the validation set using the mRNA panel. (C) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the Gleason 7 cases in the training set using the combined mRNA and miRNA panel or RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, hsa-miR-647, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, hsa-miR-519d, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1. (D) Kaplan-Meier analysis of the Gleason 7 cases in the validation set using the combined mRNA and miRNA panel.





DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described herein are methods for predicting the recurrence, progression, and/or metastatic potential of a cancer in a subject. The methods comprise selecting a subject at risk of recurrence, progression, or metastasis of prostate cancer, and detecting in a sample from a subject one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, LAF4, CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, EDNRA, RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, miR-519d, miR-647, FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221 to create a biomarker profile. It is understood that detection of biomarker may be by detection of the gene, mRNA, translated protein, microRNA or other indicator that suggests gene expression.


In certain embodiments, one analyzes a sample from the subject for aberrant expression of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, miR-519d, miR-647, and correlating such expression to a likelihood of recurrence, progression, or metastasis of prostate cancer. In certain embodiments, the aberrant expression is increased expression of RAD23B, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, miR-519d and the decreased expression of TNFRSF1A, miR-647, and ANXA1.


An increase or decrease in one or more of the biomarkers as compared to a standard indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize. Optionally, the sample comprises prostate tumor tissue. Optionally, the prostate cancer comprises a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive prostate cancer.


Optionally, the detected biomarkers comprise two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, eight or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, combination with miR-519d and/or miR-647. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise detecting miR-519 and/or miR-647 in combination with RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, and SIM2; or CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, and ETV1; or FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, ETV1, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, ETV1, and SIM2; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, BID, and ANXA1; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, and BID; or TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, and SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, ETV1, BID, SIM2; or RAD23, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, BID, and SIM2.


Optionally, multiple biomarkers are detected. Detection can comprise identifying an RNA expression pattern. An increase in one or more of the biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS as compared to a standard indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize, whereas a decrease indicates a prostate cancer that is unlikely to recur and is slow to progress and/or metastasize. A decrease in one or more of the biomarkers selected from the group consisting of TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4 as compared to a standard indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize, whereas an increase indicates a prostate cancer that is unlikely to recur and is slow to progress and/or metastasize. Optionally, the detected biomarkers comprise two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, eight or more, or all nine biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CSPG2 and E2F3. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CDKN2A, TGFB3, and LAF4. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise WNT10B, E2F3, ALOX12, and CD44. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CSPG2, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, and LAF4. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, TYMS, ALOX12, and CD44. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, CD44, and LAF4. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4. Optionally, the detected biomarkers comprise biomarkers from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4.


Optionally, the methods further comprise detecting in a sample from the subject one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221.


Optionally, multiple biomarkers are detected. Detection can comprise identifying an RNA expression pattern. An increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 as compared to a control indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize, whereas a decrease indicates the opposite. A decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, EDNRA, PTGDS, miR-136, and miR-221 as compared to a standard indicates a prostate cancer that is prone to recur, progress, and/or metastasize, whereas an increase indicates the opposites. Optionally, the detected biomarkers comprise two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, eight or more, nine or more, ten or more, eleven or more, twelve or more, thirteen or more, fourteen or more, fifteen or more, sixteen or more, seventeen or more, eighteen or more, nineteen or more, or all twenty biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A and SOX9. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise SOX9, CLNS1A, and miR-136. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, PTGDS, XPO1, and RAD23B. For example, the detected biomarkers can comprise CLNS1A, LETMD1, FRZB, miR-136, and miR-182. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, miR-339, and miR-183. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, FRZB, miR-182, and miR-183. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, miR-103, miR-339, and miR-183. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, and miR-182. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, XPO1, RAD23B, ABCC3, EDNRA, FRZB, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, and miR-339. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, and FRZB. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, EDNRA, HSPG2, and TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, and HSPG2. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, and TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, and miR-221. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, and miR-339. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, and miR-183. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182. For example, the selected biomarkers can comprise FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDRNA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. Optionally, the selected biomarkers comprise biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221.


Optionally, the detecting step comprises detecting mRNA levels of the biomarker. The mRNA detection can, for example, comprise reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), Northern analysis, microarray analysis, and cDNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension, and ligation (DASL) assay (Illumina, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.). Preferably, the RNA detection comprises the cDNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension, and ligation (DASL) assay (Illumina, Inc.). Optionally, the detecting step comprises detecting miRNA levels of the biomarker. The miRNA detection can, for example, comprise miRNA chip analysis, Northern analysis, RNase protection assay, in situ hybridization, miRNA expression profiling panels designed for the DASL assay (Illumina, Inc.), or a modified reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (qRT-PCR). Preferably the miRNA detection comprises the miRNA expression profiling panels designed for the DASL assay (Illumina, Inc.). Optionally, the detecting step comprises detecting mRNA and miRNA levels of the biomarker. The analytical techniques used to determine mRNA and miRNA expression are known. See, e.g., Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3rd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (2001), Yin et al., Trends Biotechnol. 26:70-6 (2008); Wang and Cheng, Methods Mol. Biol. 414:183-90 (2008); Einat, Methods Mol. Biol. 342:139-57 (2006).


Comparing the mRNA or miRNA biomarker content with a biomarker standard includes comparing mRNA or miRNA content from the subject with the mRNA or miRNA content of a biomarker standard. Such comparisons can be comparisons of the presence, absence, relative abundance, or combination thereof of specific mRNA or miRNA molecules in the sample and the standard. Many of the analytical techniques discussed above can be used alone or in combination to provide information about the mRNA or miRNA content (including presence, absence, and/or relative abundance information) for comparison to a biomarker standard. For example, the DASL assay can be used to establish a mRNA or miRNA profile for a sample from a subject and the abundances of specific identified molecules can be compared to the abundances of the same molecules in the biomarker standard.


Optionally, the detecting step comprises detecting the protein expression levels of the protein-coding gene biomarkers. The protein-coding gene biomarkers can comprise CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, LAF4, FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, and TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION. The protein detection can, for example, comprise an assay selected from the group consisting of Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), enzyme immunoassay (EIA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), immunohistochemistry, and protein array. The analytical techniques used to determine protein expression are known. See, e.g., Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3rd Ed., Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (2001).


Biomarker standards can be predetermined, determined concurrently, or determined after a sample is obtained from the subject. Biomarker standards for use with the methods described herein can, for example, include data from samples from subjects without prostate cancer, data from samples from subjects with prostate cancer that is not a progressive, recurrent, and/or metastatic prostate cancer, and data from samples from subjects with prostate cancer that is a progressive, recurrent, and/or metastatic prostate cancer. Comparisons can be made to multiple biomarker standards. The standards can be run in the same assay or can be known standards from a previous assay.


Also provided herein are methods of treating a subject with prostate cancer. The methods comprise modifying a treatment regimen of the subject based on the results of any of the methods of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a prostate cancer in a subject. Optionally, the treatment regimen is modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS as compared to a standard. Optionally, the treatment regimen is modified to be aggressive based on a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4 as compared to the standard. Optionally, the treatment regimen is modified to be aggressive based on a combination of an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS as compared to a standard, and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4 as compared to a standard. Optionally, the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183 and miR-182 as compared to a standard. Optionally, the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, PTGDS, EDNRA, miR-136, and miR-221 as compared to a standard. Optionally, the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on a combination of an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, PTGDS, EDNRA, miR-136, and miR-221 as compared to a standard.


In certain embodiments, the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an aberrant pattern of expression when analyzing miR-519d and/or miR-647 and four, five, six, seven, eight or more markers selected from the group consisting of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1.


Also provided are kits comprising primers to detect the expression of one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4. Optionally, the kits further comprise primers to detect the expression of one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, and TMPRSS2_ETV1, and primers to detect the expression of one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. Optionally, directions to use the primers provided in the kit to predict the progression and metastatic potential of prostate cancer in a subject, materials needed to obtain RNA in a sample from a subject, containers for the primers, or reaction vessels are included in the kit.


Also provided are arrays consisting of probes to one or more of the biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4. Optionally, the arrays further consist of probes to one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221.


The arrays provided herein can be a DNA microarray, an RNA microarray, a miRNA microarray, or an antibody array. Arrays are known in the art. See, e.g., Dufva, Methods Mol. Biol. 529:1-22 (2009); Plomin and Schalk k, Dev. Sci. 10:1):19-23 (2007); Kopf and Zharhary, Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 39(7-8):1305-17 (2007); Haab, Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 17(4):415-21 (2006); Thomson et al., Nat. Methods 1:47-53 (2004).


As used herein, subject can be a vertebrate, more specifically a mammal (e.g., a human, horse, cat, dog, cow, pig, sheep, goat mouse, rabbit, rat, and guinea pig), birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and any other animal. The term does not denote a particular age. Thus, adult and newborn subjects are intended to be covered. As used herein, patient or subject may be used interchangeably and can refer to a subject afflicted with a disease or disorder (e.g., prostate cancer). The term patient or subject includes human and veterinary subjects.


As used herein a subject at risk for recurrence, progression, or metastasis of prostate cancer refers to a subject who currently has prostate cancer, a subject who previously has had prostate cancer, or a subject at risk of developing prostate cancer. A subject at risk of developing prostate cancer can be genetically predisposed to prostate cancer, e.g., a family history or have a mutation in a gene that causes prostate cancer. Alternatively a subject at risk of developing prostate cancer can show early signs or symptoms of prostate cancer, such as hyperplasia. A subject currently with prostate cancer has one or more of the symptoms of the disease and may have been diagnosed with prostate cancer.


As used herein, the terms treatment, treat, or treating refers to a method of reducing the effects of a disease or condition (e.g., prostate cancer) or symptom of the disease or condition. Thus, in the disclosed method, treatment can refer to a 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100% reduction in the severity of an established disease or condition or symptom of the disease or condition. For example, a method of treating a disease is considered to be a treatment if there is a 10% reduction in one or more symptoms of the disease in a subject as compared to a control. Thus, the reduction can be a 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100% or any percent reduction between 10 and 100% as compared to native or control levels. It is understood that treatment does not necessarily refer to a cure or complete ablation of the disease, condition, or symptoms of the disease or condition.


Disclosed are materials, compositions, and components that can be used for, can be used in conjunction with, can be used in preparation for, or are products of the disclosed methods and compositions. These and other materials are disclosed herein, and it is understood that when combinations, subsets, interactions, groups, etc. of these materials are disclosed that while specific reference of each various individual and collective combinations and permutations of these compounds may not be explicitly disclosed, each is specifically contemplated and described herein. For example, if a method is disclosed and discussed and a number of modifications that can be made to a number of molecules including the method are discussed, each and every combination and permutation of the method, and the modifications that are possible are specifically contemplated unless specifically indicated to the contrary. Likewise, any subset or combination of these is also specifically contemplated and disclosed. This concept applies to all aspects of this disclosure including, but not limited to, steps in methods using the disclosed compositions. Thus, if there are a variety of additional steps that can be performed, it is understood that each of these additional steps can be performed with any specific method steps or combination of method steps of the disclosed methods, and that each such combination or subset of combinations is specifically contemplated and should be considered disclosed.


Publications cited herein and the materials for which they are cited are hereby specifically incorporated by reference in their entireties.


EXAMPLES
Example 1
Identification of Biomarker Predictors for the Recurrence of Prostate Cancer Associated with TMPRSS2-ERG Gene Fusion
RNA Samples.

Total RNA samples from frozen prostate tumor specimens used in this study were prepared previously (Nam et al., Br. J. Cancer 97:1690-5 (2007)). Aliquoted RNA samples were used in the cDNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension, and ligation assay (DASL assay). RNA concentration was quantified by Nanodrop spectrophotometry and quality was assessed using the Agilent Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies; Santa Clara, Calif.) for which RNA integrity number (RIN) of more than 7 was used as a quality criteria. DASL Assay Performance, Reporducibility, and Data Normalization.


The DASL assay was performed on Illumina's (Illumina, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.) 502-gene Human Cancer Panel (HCP) using 200 nanograms (ng) of input RNA. The manufacturer's instructions were followed without any changes. Samples were hybridized on two Universal Array Matrices (UAMs). The hybridized UAMs were scanned using the BeadStation 500 Instrument (Illumina Inc.). The data were interpreted and quantile normalized using GenomeStudio v1.0.2 (Illumina Inc.). Experimental replicates (same RNA assayed twice) were assessed for reproducibility and subsequently averaged so as to represent each patient's tumor sample with one gene expression profile.


Data Analysis and Meta-Analysis.

Differential mRNA expression of TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 fusion-positive versus fusion-negative tumors was assessed using significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) (Tusher et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:5116-21 (2001)) for which 1,000 random class assignment permutations estimated a false discovery rate (FDR) less than or equal to 5%. Hierarchical clustering was generated in R using the heatmap2 package where distance was computed using a Euclidean dissimilarity metric with an average linkage clustering algorithm. Data was displayed with mRNA intensities Z-score normalized. Gene Ontology analysis was conducted using the GOstats package with a significance value of p<0.01 of overrepresentation computed by the hypergeometric test using the lumiHumanAll.db annotation file. Univariate Cox proportional hazards regression was conducted in R using the Cox proportional hazards survival package (CoxPH) and was conducted on each gene expression profile and clinical factor independently. Multivariate Cox analysis considered clinical factors that were significant (p<0.05) in univariate analysis as well as a recurrence predictor built as a weighted average of the expression level of genes, which were significant in univariate analysis in both the Toronto data set and that from Nakagawa et al. (Nakagawa et al., PLoS ONE 3(5):e2318 (2008)). Kaplan-Meier curves were generated in R using the survival package and significance testing utilized the survdiff function for which the log-rank test determined the p-value. Meta-Analysis utilized expression profiles from both Setlur et al. (Setlur et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 100(11):815-25 (2008)) and Nakagawa et al. (Nakagawa et al., PLoS ONE 3(5):e2318 (2008)) studies, which were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO; located on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website) and had the series numbers GSE8402 and GSE10645, respectively. The same differential, annotation, and prognostic analyses methods described above were employed on the meta-analysis sets.


Results

After RNA and assay quality control, 139 patient tumors were characterized on the DASL assay for 502 cancer-related genes (GEO series GSE18655). Seven samples were run as experimental replicates to estimate assay reproducibility for which an average Pearson R2 of 0.965 indicated highly reproducible data (FIG. 1). Moreover, unsupervised hierarchical clustering of all samples and probes resulted in experimental replicates clustering together without exception. The Toronto cohort, a subset of that previously characterized for clinical markers (Nam et al., Br. J. Cancer 97(12):1690-5 (2007)), includes 69 patients with TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 fusion-positive tumors and 70 prostate tumors that were TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-negative. Fusion status indicated a significantly worse outcome with respect to biochemical recurrence (FIG. 2A, p=3.54×10−8 log-rank test) similar to that observed in the entire cohort (Nam et al., Br. J. Cancer 97(12):1690-5 (2007)). As previously reported, patients with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors had a significantly higher expression of ERG transcripts (FIG. 2B, p=3.48×10−11, Student's two-sided t-test) likely a result of androgen-responsive promoter elements in TMPRSS2 driving expression (Tomlins et al., Science 310(5748):644-8 (2005)). ERG overexpression was validated using a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, which corroborated ERG overexpression found by microarray results (FIG. 2C, p=8.13×10−10, Student's two-sided t-test).


To investigate molecular biomarkers differentially regulated in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors, significance testing was conducted using SAM (Tusher et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98(9):5116-21 (2001)) for both the Toronto cohort and that of the 455 patient Swedish cohort (Setlur et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 100(11):815-25 (2008)). Using a FDR equal to or less than 5% yielded 51 genes differentially regulated in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors in the Toronto cohort (Table 1). Nine upregulated genes and six downregulated genes were validated by replicating the analysis on the Swedish cohort (Setlur et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 100(11):815-25 (2008)), which was characterized for expression of 6,144 transcripts (FIG. 3, FDR <5%). In both the Toronto and Swedish cohorts ERG was uniquely the most significant differentially regulated transcript in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors (FIG. 4). Genes annotated for mismatch base repair and histone deacetylation functions were overrepresented in Gene Ontology analysis of common upregulated genes TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors. Downregulated genes were overrepresented for annotations that included the insulin-like growth factor and Jak-Stat signaling pathways suggesting that these pathways may be attenuated in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors (Table 2, p<0.01). Hierarchical clustering of tumor expression profiles across common differentially regulated genes resulted in segregation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors (FIG. 3), suggesting that TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive tumors have a distinct molecular metabolism that is replicated in multiple cohorts.









TABLE 1







Differentially regulated mRNAs with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion. Differential regulated genes


associated with TMPRSS2-ERG fusion were determined using Significance Analysis of


Microarrays (SAM) which permutated 1,000 assignments of class assignment to determine


differential targets (Tusher et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98(9): 5116-21 (2001)).


mRNAs were validated in a 455 patient Swedish cohort that was characterized for


expression of 6,144 transcripts (Setlur et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 100(11): 815-25 (2008)).















FDR


Gene

SAM
Fold
(q-


Symb.
Gene Name
Score
Change
value)










Upregualted in TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 positive tumors











ERG
v-ets erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene
7.46
3.07
3.22%



homolog


MSF/
septin 9
4.93
1.26
3.22%


Sept9


HDAC1
histone deacetylase 1
4.38
1.07
3.22%


EPHB4
EPH receptor B4
3.99
1.17
3.22%


ARHGDIB
Rho GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI) beta
3.67
1.06
3.22%


THPO
Thrombopoietin
3.62
1.23
3.22%


PDGFA
platelet-derived growth factor alpha polypeptide
3.60
1.09
3.22%


CEACAM1
carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion
3.16
1.23
3.22%



mol. 1


SHH
sonic hedgehog homolog (Drosophila)
3.12
1.14
3.22%


TRAF4
TNF receptor-associated factor 4
3.06
1.14
3.22%


IFNGR1
interferon gamma receptor 1
3.00
1.09
3.22%


MSH3
mutS homolog 3 (E. coli)
2.84
1.10
3.22%


MUC1
mucin 1, cell surface associated
2.83
1.42
3.22%


PXN
Paxillin
2.74
1.10
3.22%


ITGB4
integrin, beta 4
2.71
1.07
3.22%


CDK4
cyclin-dependent kinase 4
2.68
1.08
3.22%


CDK7
cyclin-dependent kinase 7
2.66
1.08
3.22%


YES1
v-yes-1 Yamaguchi sarcoma viral oncogene
2.63
1.08
3.22%



homolog 1


ING1
inhibitor of growth family, member 1
2.59
1.08
3.22%


E2F3
E2F transcription factor 3
2.59
1.16
3.22%


WT1
Wilms tumor 1
2.51
1.16
4.80%


SOD1
superoxide dismutase 1, soluble
2.49
1.02
4.80%







Downregulated in TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 positive tumors











CD44
CD44 molecule (Indian blood group)
−3.56
−1.12
3.22%


LAF4/
AF4/FMR2 family, member 3
−3.51
−1.28
3.22%


AFF3


EPO
erythropoietin
−3.41
−1.28
3.22%


KDR
kinase insert domain receptor (a type III rec. tyr.
−3.20
−1.14
3.22%



kin.)


GFI1
growth factor independent 1 transcription
−3.19
−1.10
3.22%



repressor


FGF12
fibroblast growth factor 12
−3.02
−1.39
3.22%


FGFR4
fibroblast growth factor receptor 4
−2.91
−1.14
3.22%


PTEN
phosphatase and tensin homolog
−2.87
−1.11
3.22%


FLT4
fms-related tyrosine kinase 4
−2.83
−1.14
3.22%


IGF1
insulin-like growth factor 1 (somatomedin C)
−2.81
−1.11
3.22%


FLT1
fms-related tyrosine kinase 1 (vegf/vpfr)
−2.80
−1.16
3.22%


TGFBR1
transforming growth factor, beta receptor 1
−2.74
−1.09
3.22%


EXT1
exostoses (multiple) 1
−2.73
−1.14
3.22%


TNFSF6
Fas ligand (TNF superfamily, member 6)
−2.67
−1.06
3.22%


TGFB3
transforming growth factor, beta 3
−2.66
−1.15
3.22%


FGF7
fibroblast growth factor 7 (keratinocyte growth
−2.64
−1.20
3.22%



factor)


PDGFRA
platelet-derived growth factor receptor, alpha
−2.64
−1.22
3.22%



polypeptide


MAF
v-maf musculoaponeurotic fibrosarc. onc.
−2.61
−1.15
3.22%



homolog


IGF2
insulin-like growth factor 2 (somatomedin A)
−2.53
−1.38
3.22%


WNT2B
wingless-type MMTV integration site family,
−2.53
−1.26
3.22%



member 2B


NOTCH4
Notch homolog 4 (Drosophila)
−2.52
−1.15
3.22%


ETV1
ets variant 1
−2.48
−1.55
5.00%


IGFBP6
insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6
−2.48
−1.11
5.00%


CBL
Cas-Br-M (murine) ecotropic retroviral
−2.42
−1.12
5.00%



transforming seq.


PTGS1
prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1
−2.39
−1.14
5.00%


FZD7
frizzled homolog 7 (Drosophila)
−2.39
−1.11
5.00%


FYN
FYN oncogene related to SRC, FGR, YES
−2.39
−1.14
5.00%


PLAG1
pleiomorphic adenoma gene 1
−2.38
−1.10
5.00%


L1CAM
L1 cell adhesion molecule
−2.38
−1.08
5.00%
















TABLE 2







Gene Ontology Annotation of mRNAs associated with TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 fusion


in Prostate Cancer. The 15 mRNAs associated with TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 fusion (FIG. 3,


Table 1 in bold) in both our Toronto-139 cohort and a Swedish 455 patient cohort (Setlur et


al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 100(11): 815-25 (2008)) were annotated for gene ontology terms.


Several terms annotated from the nine upregulated mRNAs in T1/E4 fusion positive tumors


were related to DNA damage & repair mechanisms and histone deacetylation. Conversly,


overrepresented terms for the six mRNAs downregulated in T1/E4 positive tumors were


associated with insulin-like growth factor (IGF) activity and JAK-STAT tyrosine


phosporylation signaling. P-values were calculated using a hypergeometric test in the R


package GOstats.


Ontology Annotation of Overexpressed mRNAs in TMPRSS2-ERG fusion positive tumors













P-


GOBPID
Term
Category
value













GO: 0043570
maintenance of DNA repeat elements
Biological Process
0.0011


GO: 0032302
MutSbeta complex
Cellular
0.0011




Component


GO: 0000700
mismatch base pair DNA N-glycosylase
Molecular
0.0011



activity
Function


GO: 0000701
purine-specific mismatch base pair DNA N-
Molecular
0.0011



glycosylase activity
Function


GO: 0032181
dinucleotide repeat insertion binding
Molecular
0.0011




Function


GO: 0032300
mismatch repair complex
Cellular
0.0016




Component


GO: 0005094
Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0019237
centromeric DNA binding
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0032139
dinucleotide insertion or deletion binding
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0032142
single guanine insertion binding
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0032356
oxidized DNA binding
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0032357
oxidized purine DNA binding
Molecular
0.0017




Function


GO: 0005515
protein binding
Molecular
0.0021




Function


GO: 0032134
mispaired DNA binding
Molecular
0.0022




Function


GO: 0032135
DNA insertion or deletion binding
Molecular
0.0022




Function


GO: 0032137
guanine/thymine mispair binding
Molecular
0.0022




Function


GO: 0032138
single base insertion or deletion binding
Molecular
0.0022




Function


GO: 0005092
GDP-dissociation inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0028




Function


GO: 0019104
DNA N-glycosylase activity
Molecular
0.0055




Function


GO: 0016575
histone deacetylation
Biological Process
0.0058


GO: 0016447
somatic recombination of immunoglob. gene
Biological Process
0.0068



seg.


GO: 0016445
somatic diversification of immunoglobulins
Biological Process
0.0079


GO: 0016799
hydrolase activity, hydrolyzing N-glycosyl
Molecular
0.0088



comp.
Function


GO: 0030983
mismatched DNA binding
Molecular
0.0088




Function


GO: 0002562
somatic diversification of immune receptors
Biological Process
0.0089



via germline recombination within a single



locus


GO: 0006476
protein amino acid deacetylation
Biological Process
0.0089


GO: 0016444
somatic cell DNA recombination
Biological Process
0.0089


GO: 0002200
somatic diversification of immune receptors
Biological Process
0.0094


GO: 0002377
immunoglobulin production
Biological Process
0.0094


GO: 0004407
histone deacetylase activity
Molecular
0.0099




Function


GO: 0009441
glycolate metabolic process
Biological Process
0.0005


GO: 0014834
satellite cell maintenance involved in
Biological Process
0.0005



skeletal muscle regeneration


GO: 0014904
myotube cell development
Biological Process
0.0005


GO: 0034392
negative regulation of smooth muscle cell
Biological Process
0.0005



apoptosis


GO: 0004666
prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase
Molecular
0.0008



activity
Function


GO: 0014911
positive regulation of smooth muscle cell
Biological Process
0.0009



migration


GO: 0033143
regulation of steroid hormone receptor
Biological Process
0.0009



signaling pathway


GO: 0035019
somatic stem cell maintenance
Biological Process
0.0009


GO: 0043568
positive regulation of insulin-like growth
Biological Process
0.0009



factor receptor signaling pathway


GO: 0051450
myoblast proliferation
Biological Process
0.0009


GO: 0014896
muscle hypertrophy
Biological Process
0.0014


GO: 0043403
skeletal muscle regeneration
Biological Process
0.0014


GO: 0016942
insulin-like growth factor binding protein
Cellular
0.0016



complex
Component


GO: 0034390
smooth muscle cell apoptosis
Biological Process
0.0018


GO: 0034391
regulation of smooth muscle cell apoptosis
Biological Process
0.0018


GO: 0043500
muscle adaptation
Biological Process
0.0018


GO: 0043567
regulation of insulin-like growth factor
Biological Process
0.0018



receptor signaling pathway


GO: 0014902
myotube differentiation
Biological Process
0.0023


GO: 0042523
positive regulation of tyrosine
Biological Process
0.0023



phosphorylation of Stat5 protein


GO: 0019827
stem cell maintenance
Biological Process
0.0027


GO: 0042522
regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of
Biological Process
0.0027



Stat5 protein


GO: 0048864
stem cell development
Biological Process
0.0027


GO: 0014909
smooth muscle cell migration
Biological Process
0.0032


GO: 0014910
regulation of smooth muscle cell migration
Biological Process
0.0032


GO: 0042506
tyrosine phosphorylation of Stat5 protein
Biological Process
0.0032


GO: 0045821
positive regulation of glycolysis
Biological Process
0.0032


GO: 0042813
Wnt receptor activity
Molecular
0.0033




Function


GO: 0014065
phosphoinositide 3-kinase cascade
Biological Process
0.0036


GO: 0048863
stem cell differentiation
Biological Process
0.0036


GO: 0001516
prostaglandin biosynthetic process
Biological Process
0.0041


GO: 0014812
muscle cell migration
Biological Process
0.0041


GO: 0046457
prostanoid biosynthetic process
Biological Process
0.0041


GO: 0046579
positive regulation of Ras protein signal
Biological Process
0.0041



transduction


GO: 0032787
monocarboxylic acid metabolic process
Biological Process
0.0042


GO: 0006110
regulation of glycolysis
Biological Process
0.0045


GO: 0051057
positive regulation of small GTPase
Biological Process
0.0045



mediated signal transduction


GO: 0004926
non-G-protein coupled 7TM receptor
Molecular
0.0046



activity
Function


GO: 0005159
insulin-like growth factor receptor binding
Molecular
0.0046




Function


GO: 0031331
positive regulation of cellular catabolic
Biological Process
0.0050



process


GO: 0042246
tissue regeneration
Biological Process
0.0050


GO: 0042531
positive regulation of tyrosine
Biological Process
0.0050



phosphorylation of STAT protein


GO: 0043470
regulation of carbohydrate catabolic process
Biological Process
0.0050


GO: 0043471
regulation of cellular carbohydrate catabolic
Biological Process
0.0050



process


GO: 0048009
insulin-like growth factor receptor signaling
Biological Process
0.0050



pathway


GO: 0046427
positive regulation of JAK-STAT cascade
Biological Process
0.0054


GO: 0048661
positive regulation of smooth muscle cell
Biological Process
0.0054



prolif.


GO: 0040007
Growth
Biological Process
0.0056


GO: 0031099
Regeneration
Biological Process
0.0058


GO: 0045913
positive regulation of carbohydrate
Biological Process
0.0058



metabolic process


GO: 0065008
regulation of biological quality
Biological Process
0.0064


GO: 0006692
prostanoid metabolic process
Biological Process
0.0067


GO: 0006693
prostaglandin metabolic process
Biological Process
0.0067


GO: 0045740
positive regulation of DNA replication
Biological Process
0.0067


GO: 0048146
positive regulation of fibroblast proliferation
Biological Process
0.0067


GO: 0005518
collagen binding
Molecular
0.0070




Function


GO: 0005540
hyaluronic acid binding
Molecular
0.0070




Function


GO: 0009896
positive regulation of catabolic process
Biological Process
0.0072


GO: 0031329
regulation of cellular catabolic process
Biological Process
0.0076


GO: 0042509
regulation of tyrosine phosphorylation of
Biological Process
0.0076



STAT prot.


GO: 0045840
positive regulation of mitosis
Biological Process
0.0076


GO: 0048144
fibroblast proliferation
Biological Process
0.0076


GO: 0048145
regulation of fibroblast proliferation
Biological Process
0.0076


GO: 0050679
positive regulation of epithelial cell
Biological Process
0.0076



proliferation


GO: 0006109
regulation of carbohydrate metabolic process
Biological Process
0.0081


GO: 0005158
insulin receptor binding
Molecular
0.0087




Function


GO: 0046425
regulation of JAK-STAT cascade
Biological Process
0.0094


GO: 0005520
insulin-like growth factor binding
Molecular
0.0095




Function


GO: 0007260
tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT protein
Biological Process
0.0099


GO: 0030166
proteoglycan biosynthetic process
Biological Process
0.0099


GO: 0048660
regulation of smooth muscle cell
Biological Process
0.0099



proliferation









To determine molecular factors associated with biochemical recurrence, defined as a PSA increase of ≧0.2 ng/ml on at least two consecutive measurements that are at least 3 months apart, univariate Cox proportional hazards regression was conducted in the Toronto cohort and replicated in a 596 patient Minnesota cohort (Nakagawa et al., PLoS ONE 3(5):e2318 (2008)). The Toronto dataset yielded 16 genes associated with recurrence and 11 genes associated with non-recurrence (Table 3, p<0.05). Repeating this analysis in the Minnesota cohort validated five genes associated with biochemical recurrence (CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS) and four genes associated with non-recurrence (TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4) (FIG. 5, p<0.05). Gene Ontology functional annotation of genes commonly associated with recurrence yielded overrepresentation of deoxyribosylthymine monophosphate (dTMP) biosynthesis, negative regulation of leukocyte activation, specifically T and B cell lymphocytes, as well as inhibition of cell-matrix adhesion. Conversely, annotation of genes associated with non-recurrence resulted in cell-matrix adhesion and collagen binding (Table 4, p<0.01). Common genes prognostic of recurrence were used to build a recurrence score calculated as the sum product of each gene's expression intensity by its Cox coefficient determined by regression analysis. Ordering samples by the recurrence score in a supervised heatmap produced a trend whereby patients that did not have recurrence were separated from those who did in both the Toronto and Swedish cohorts. More importantly, the recurrence score was significant in univariate Cox regression and remained significant in a multivariate model considering clinical factors that were significant (p<0.05) in the univariate analysis, namely pre-operative PSA level, Gleason score, and TMPRSS2-ERG fusion status (Table 5, Toronto cohort). Furthermore, the nine-gene expression recurrence score was significantly associated with biochemical recurrence by itself (FIG. 6A, p=0.000167) and in a multivariate model considering with Gleason score and TMPRSS2-ERG fusion status (i.e., those clinical data significant in univariate analysis; FIG. 6B, p=4.15×10−7).









TABLE 3







mRNAs Associated with Biochemical Recurrence. mRNAs


associated with biochemical recurrence were determined


using a cox proportional hazards regression of mRNA


expression. mRNAs were validated in a 596 Minnesota


cohort characterized for the same 502 mRNA transcripts


(Nakagawa et al., 2008).










Gene Symbol/

Cox
Cox p-


Alias
Gene Name
Coef.
value










mRNAs Associated with Recurrence










MUC1
mucin 1, cell surface associated
0.0003
0.0001


CDKN2A
cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A
0.0004
0.0005


WNT10B
wingless-type MMTV integration site
0.0027
0.0030



family, member 10B


CSPG2/
versican
0.0004
0.0057


VCAN


MSF/SEPT9
septin 9
0.0003
0.0087


E2F3
E2F transcription factor 3
0.0010
0.0120


CDH11
cadherin 11, type 2, OB-cadherin
0.0008
0.0120



(osteoblast)


MMP7
matrix metallopeptidase 7
0.0001
0.0130



(matrilysin, uterine)


ERG
v-ets erythroblastosis virus E26
0.0001
0.0150



oncogene homolog (avian)


SKIL
SKI-like oncogene
0.0001
0.0170


TYMS
thymidylate synthetase
0.0002
0.0220


BIRC3
baculoviral IAP repeat-containing 3
0.0002
0.0220


EPHB4
EPH receptor B4
0.0013
0.0280


TNFRSF6/
Fas (TNF receptor superfamily,
0.0001
0.0300


FAS
member 6)


TGFBI
transforming growth factor, beta-
0.0002
0.0380



induced, 68 kDa


LCN2
lipocalin 2
0.0001
0.0380







mRNAs Associated with Non-Recurrence










CD44
CD44 molecule (Indian blood group)
−0.0002
0.0092


VEGF/
vascular endothelial growth factor A
−0.0002
0.0170


VEGFA


EPO
erythropoietin
−0.0010
0.0180


ALOX12
arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase
−0.0049
0.0180


TGFB3
transforming growth factor, beta 3
−0.0004
0.0190


FLT1/
fms-related tyrosine kinase 1
−0.0005
0.0250


VEGFR
(VEGF/VPFR)


FGFR4
fibroblast growth factor receptor 4
−0.0006
0.0280


TYRO3
TYRO3 protein tyrosine kinase
−0.0014
0.0290


MAF
v-maf musculoaponeurotic
−0.0002
0.0310



fibrosarcoma oncogene homolog


FHIT
fragile histidine triad gene
−0.0005
0.0380


LAF4/AFF3
AF4/FMR2 family, member 3
−0.0002
0.0400
















TABLE 4







Gene Ontology Annotation of mRNAs associated with Biochemical Recurrence.


The nine mRNAs associated with biochemical recurrence in both the Toronto-


139 and Minnesota-596 (Nakagawa et al., 2008) were cohorts (FIG. 5, Table 3)


were annotated for gene ontology terms. Several terms were found overrepresented


in the five mRNAs associated with recurrence including deoxyribosylthymine


monophosphate (dTMP) metabolism, negative regulation of B and T-cell leukocyte


proliferation, and negative regulation of cell adhesion. Overrepresented terms for


the four mRNAs associated with non-recurrence T1/E4 positive tumors were


associated with cell adhesion and hydrolase and oxide activity. P-values were


calculated using a hypergeometric test in the R package GOstats.










GOBPID
Term
Category
P-value










Gene Ontology Annotation of Genes Associated with Recurrence










GO: 0004799
thymidylate synthase activity
Molecular
0.0003459




Function


GO: 0042083
5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate-dependent
Molecular
0.0003459



methyltransferase activity
Function


GO: 0055103
ligase regulator activity
Molecular
0.0003459




Function


GO: 0055104
ligase inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0003459




Function


GO: 0055105
ubiquitin-protein ligase inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0003459




Function


GO: 0055106
ubiquitin-protein ligase regulator activity
Molecular
0.0003459




Function


GO: 0006231
dTMP biosynthetic process
Biological
0.0003758




Process


GO: 0009157
deoxyribonucleoside monophosphate
Biological
0.0003758



biosynthetic process
Process


GO: 0009162
deoxyribonucleoside monophosphate
Biological
0.0003758



metabolic process
Process


GO: 0009176
pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside
Biological
0.0003758



monophosphate metabolic process
Process


GO: 0009177
pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside
Biological
0.0003758



monophosphate biosynthetic process
Process


GO: 0010149
Senescence
Biological
0.0003758




Process


GO: 0010389
regulation of G2/M transition of mitotic
Biological
0.0003758



cell cycle
Process


GO: 0046073
dTMP metabolic process
Biological
0.0003758




Process


GO: 0030889
negative regulation of B cell proliferation
Biological
0.0007515




Process


GO: 0033079
immature T cell proliferation
Biological
0.0007515




Process


GO: 0033080
immature T cell proliferation in the thymus
Biological
0.0007515




Process


GO: 0033083
regulation of immature T cell proliferation
Biological
0.0007515




Process


GO: 0033084
regulation of immature T cell prolif. in the
Biological
0.0007515



thymus
Process


GO: 0033087
negative regulation of immature T cell
Biological
0.0007515



proliferation
Process


GO: 0033088
negative regulation of immature T cell
Biological
0.0007515



proliferation in the thymus
Process


GO: 0009129
pyrimidine nucleoside monophosphate
Biological
0.0011271



metabolic process
Process


GO: 0009130
pyrimidine nucleoside monophosphate
Biological
0.0011271



biosynthetic process
Process


GO: 0009221
pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide
Biological
0.0015026



biosynthetic process
Process


GO: 0017145
stem cell division
Biological
0.0015026




Process


GO: 0048103
somatic stem cell division
Biological
0.0015026




Process


GO: 0009263
deoxyribonucleotide biosynthetic process
Biological
0.001878




Process


GO: 0032088
negative regulation of NF-kappaB
Biological
0.0022533



transcription factor activity
Process


GO: 0001953
negative regulation of cell-matrix adhesion
Biological
0.0026284




Process


GO: 0050869
negative regulation of B cell activation
Biological
0.0030035




Process


GO: 0004861
cyclin-dependent protein kinase inhibitor
Molecular
0.0031101



activity
Function


GO: 0005578
proteinaceous extracellular matrix
Cellular Comp.
0.0033002


GO: 0031012
extracellular matrix
Cellular Comp.
0.0034427


GO: 0030888
regulation of B cell proliferation
Biological
0.0037532




Process


GO: 0042130
negative regulation of T cell proliferation
Biological
0.0037532




Process


GO: 0045736
neg. regulation of cyclin-dependent prot.
Biological
0.0037532



kin. act.
Process


GO: 0009219
pyrimidine deoxyribonucleotide metabolic
Biological
0.0041279



process
Process


GO: 0001952
regulation of cell-matrix adhesion
Biological
0.0045025




Process


GO: 0030291
protein serine/threonine kinase inhibitor
Molecular
0.0048346



activity
Function


GO: 0032945
negative regulation of mononuclear cell
Biological
0.0048769



prolif.
Process


GO: 0033077
T cell differentiation in the thymus
Biological
0.0048769




Process


GO: 0050672
negative regulation of lymphocyte
Biological
0.0048769



proliferation
Process


GO: 0016538
cyclin-dependent protein kinase regulator
Molecular
0.0051792



activity
Function


GO: 0006309
DNA fragmentation during apoptosis
Biological
0.0052513




Process


GO: 0005540
hyaluronic acid binding
Molecular
0.0058681




Function


GO: 0008637
apoptotic mitochondrial changes
Biological
0.0059997




Process


GO: 0042100
B cell proliferation
Biological
0.0059997




Process


GO: 0050868
negative regulation of T cell activation
Biological
0.0059997




Process


GO: 0051059
NF-kappaB binding
Molecular
0.0062124




Function


GO: 0000086
G2/M transition of mitotic cell cycle
Biological
0.0063737




Process


GO: 0043433
negative regulation of transcription factor
Biological
0.0063737



activity
Process


GO: 0009262
deoxyribonucleotide metabolic process
Biological
0.0067476




Process


GO: 0006921
cell structure disassembly during apoptosis
Biological
0.0071214




Process


GO: 0007223
Wnt receptor signal. path., calc. modul.
Biological
0.0071214



path.
Process


GO: 0022411
cellular component disassembly
Biological
0.0071214




Process


GO: 0042326
negative regulation of phosphorylation
Biological
0.0071214




Process


GO: 0010563
negative regulation of phosphorus
Biological
0.0074951



metabolic process
Process


GO: 0030262
apoptotic nuclear changes
Biological
0.0074951




Process


GO: 0045936
negative regulation of phosphate metabolic
Biological
0.0074951



process
Process


GO: 0043392
negative regulation of DNA binding
Biological
0.0078687




Process


GO: 0006221
pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthetic process
Biological
0.0082421




Process


GO: 0051100
negative regulation of binding
Biological
0.0082421




Process


GO: 0007568
aging
Biological
0.0086155




Process


GO: 0009123
nucleoside monophosphate metabolic
Biological
0.0086155



process
Process


GO: 0009124
nucleoside monophosphate biosynthetic
Biological
0.0086155



process
Process


GO: 0051250
negative regulation of lymphocyte
Biological
0.0086155



activation
Process


GO: 0004860
protein kinase inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0093071




Function


GO: 0002695
negative regulation of leukocyte activation
Biological
0.0093618




Process


GO: 0031647
regulation of protein stability
Biological
0.0097348




Process


GO: 0050864
regulation of B cell activation
Biological
0.0097348




Process


GO: 0019210
kinase inhibitor activity
Molecular
0.0099937




Function







Gene Ontology Annotation of Genes Prognostic of Non-Recurrence










GO: 0004052
arachidonate 12-lipoxygenase activity
Molecular
0.0004151




Function


GO: 0047977
hepoxilin-epoxide hydrolase activity
Molecular
0.0004151




Function


GO: 0016803
ether hydrolase activity
Molecular
0.0010376




Function


GO: 0042554
superoxide release
Biological
0.0013525




Process


GO: 0016165
lipoxygenase activity
Molecular
0.0014524




Function


GO: 0030307
positive regulation of cell growth
Biological
0.0015778




Process


GO: 0016801
hydrolase activity, acting on ether bonds
Molecular
0.0016598




Function


GO: 0045793
positive regulation of cell size
Biological
0.0020282




Process


GO: 0045785
positive regulation of cell adhesion
Biological
0.0033789




Process


GO: 0042383
sarcolemma
Cellular Comp.
0.0034219


GO: 0005518
collagen binding
Molecular
0.0035248




Function


GO: 0005540
hyaluronic acid binding
Molecular
0.0035248




Function


GO: 0006801
superoxide metabolic process
Biological
0.0036039




Process


GO: 0019370
leukotriene biosynthetic process
Biological
0.0040537




Process


GO: 0043450
alkene biosynthetic process
Biological
0.0040537




Process


GO: 0006691
leukotriene metabolic process
Biological
0.0049531




Process


GO: 0043449
cellular alkene metabolic process
Biological
0.0049531




Process


GO: 0045927
positive regulation of growth
Biological
0.0049531




Process


GO: 0046456
icosanoid biosynthetic process
Biological
0.0063011




Process


GO: 0007155
cell adhesion
Biological
0.0077585




Process


GO: 0022610
biological adhesion
Biological
0.0077585




Process


GO: 0019395
fatty acid oxidation
Biological
0.0078722




Process


GO: 0034440
lipid oxidation
Biological
0.0078722




Process


GO: 0006690
icosanoid metabolic process
Biological
0.0089934




Process
















TABLE 5







Clinical and Molecular Factors for the Toronto-139. Cohort clinical characteristics


for the 139 prostate cancer patients in the Toronto cohort are listed out for


TMPRSS2-ERG T1/E4 fusion positive and fusion negative patients. Factors were


assessed for their association with biochemical recurrence when relevant (indicated


by a univariate p-value). Factors prognostic of recurrence (p < 0.05) were used in a


multivariate model of recurrence. The nine-gene recurrence score (composed of the


genes listed in FIG. 5) is composed of mRNAs replicated as prognostic of recurrence


in this experiment and a 596 patient Minnesota experiment (Nakagawa et al., 2008).










TMPRSS2-ERG
Recurrence Model



T1/E4 fusion
(p)













Total
positive
negative
Univariate
Multi.















Cohort Size (n)
139
69
70




Biochemical Recurrence
33
29
4




Average Follow-up
30.9
25.8
36




(months)


Avg. Age (yrs)
61.7
61.1
62.2
0.0880



Preoperative PSA (ng/mL)



0.0210
0.6200


Average
8.9
9.3
8.5


Range
[2.2-43.0]
[3.4-38.9]
[2.2-43.0]


Gleason Score



0.0190
0.0280


5-6
38
19
19



(27.3%)
(27.5%)
(27.1%)


7
90
46
44



(64.7%)
(66.7%)
(62.9%)


8-9
11
4
2



(7.9%)
(5.8%)
(10.0%)


Pathologic Stage



0.0860



organ confined
59
29
30



(42.4%)
(42.0%)
(42.9%)


extraprostatic extension
70
35
35



(50.4%)
(50.7%)
(50.0%)


seminal vesicle invasion
10
5
5



(7.2%)
(7.2%)
(7.1%)


Positive Margin



0.4000



No
62
33
29



(44.6%)
(47.8%)
(41.4%)


Yes
77
36
41



(55.4%)
(52.2%)
(58.6%)


TMPRSS2-ERG Fusion




0.0004


Nine-gene Recurrence
2.01
3.37
1.58

0.0270


Score [95% CI]

[0.37,
[−0.94,




7.18]
4.25]









Example 2
Identification of Biomarker Predictors for the Progression and Metastatic Potential of Prostate Cancer
RNA Isolation.

RNA is isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue according to the methods described in Abramovitz et al., Biotechniques 44(3):417-23 (2008). In brief, three 5 μm sections per block were cut and placed into a 1.5 mL sterile microfuge tube. The tissue section was deparaffinized with 100% xylene for 3 minutes at 50° C. The tissue section was centrifuged, washed twice with ethanol, and allowed to air dry. The tissue section was digested with Proteinase K for 24 hours at 50° C. RNA was isolated using an Ambion Recover All Kit (Ambion; Austin, Tex.).


cDNA-Mediated Annealing, Selection, Extension, and Ligation Assay (DASL Assay).


Upon the completion of RNA isolation, the isolated RNA is used in the DASL assay. The DASL assay is performed according to the protocols supplied by the manufacturer (Illumina, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.). The primer sequences for the fourteen biomarker genes are shown in Table 6. The probe sequences for the fourteen biomarker genes are shown in Table 7.









TABLE 6







DASL assay Primer Sequences for Fourteen Biomarker Genes








Gene
Primer Sequences





FOXO1A
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTCCTAGGAGAAGAGCTGCATCCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 1)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTCCTAGGAGAAGAGCTGCATCCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 2)





SOX9
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCTCCTACCCGCCCATCACCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 3)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCTCCTACCCGCCCATCACCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 4)



5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGAGAGAACTTGGTGCCTCTTCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 5)





CLNS1A
5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGAGAGAACTTGGTGCCTCTTCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 6)



5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCGAACCCAGACCCCCAGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 7)





PTGDS
5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCGAACCCAGACCCCCAGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 8)



5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCCAGCAAAGAATGGCTCAAGAA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 9)





XPO1
5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCCAGCAAAGAATGGCTCAAGAA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 10)



5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTCACCTTTCTCCAAAGGCAGATG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 11)





LETMD
5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTCACCTTTCTCCAAAGGCAGATG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 12)





RAD23B
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAATCCTTCCTTGCTTCCAGCG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 13)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTAATCCTTCCTTGCTTCCAGCG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 14)





TMPRSS
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAGCGCGGCACTCAGGTACCT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 15)





2_ETV1
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAGCGCGGCACTCAGGTACCT-3′


FUSION
(SEQ ID NO: 16)





ABCC3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACATGTTCCTGTGCTCCATGATGC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 17)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTATGTTCCTGTGCTCCATGATGC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 18)



5′-GTCGCTGATCTTACAACACTATTACATGCCTATTGACGTGAGGCGGTCTG



CCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 19)





APC
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTCCCTGGAGTAAAACTGCGGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 20)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTCCCTGGAGTAAAACTGCGGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 21)



5′-AAAATGTCCCTCCGTTCTTATCTAGATCGCAAAAGTGTCTCGGAAGTCTG



CCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 22)





CHES1
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGGTTTCTCCAAGGCCCTTCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 23)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGGTTTCTCCAAGGCCCTTCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 24)



5′-GAAGACGATGACCTCGACTTCATACGCGAATTGATAGAAGCTCGGTCTG



CCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 25)





EDNRA
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTGCAACTCTGCTCAGGATCATTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 26)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTGCAACTCTGCTCAGGATCATTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 27)



5′-CCAGAACAAATGTATGAGGAATTCACTCAAGGCCGTTAGCTGTGGTCTG



CCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 28)





FRZB
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGAAGCTTCGTCATCTTGGACTCAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 29)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGAAGCTTCGTCATCTTGGACTCAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 30)



5′-AAAAGTGATTCTAGCAATAGTGATTTTACTGCGCTCCTAATTGGCACCGT



CTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 31)





HSPG2
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCCAAATGCGCTGGACACATT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 32)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCCAAATGCGCTGGACACATT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 33)



5′-GTACCTTTCTGATGATGAGGACGGAACAGCTTACGACTTTGCGGGTCTG



CCTATAGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 34)
















TABLE 7







Probe Sequences for Detection of Fourteen Biomarker


Genes in DASL assay








Gene
Probe Sequence





FOXO1A
5′-TCCTAGGAGAAGAGCTGCATCCATGGACAACAACAGTAAATTTGCTA-



3′



(SEQ ID NO: 35)





SOX9
5′-CTCCTACCCGCCCATCACCCGCTCACAGTACGACTACACCGAC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 36)





CLNS1A
5′-GGAGAGAACTTGGTGCCTCTTCCACTCTGGAGTGAAGTTAATGA



AAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 37)





PTGDS
5′-CGAACCCAGACCCCCAGGGCTGAGTTAAAGGAGAAATTCACC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 38)





XPO1
5′-CCAGCAAAGAATGGCTCAAGAAGTACTGACACATTTAAAGGAGCAT-



3′



(SEQ ID NO: 39)





LETMD1
5′-TCACCTTTCTCCAAAGGCAGATGTGAAGAACTTGATGTCTTATGTGG-



3′



(SEQ ID NO: 40)





RAD23B
5′-AATCCTTCCTTGCTTCCAGCGTTACTACAGCAGATAGGTCGAGAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 41)





TMPRSS2_
5′-AGCGCGGCACTCAGGTACCTGACAATGATGAGCAGTTTGTACC-3′


ETV1
(SEQ ID NO: 42)


FUSION






ABCC3
5′-ATGTTCCTGTGCTCCATGATGCAGTCGCTGATCTTACAACACTATT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 43)





APC
5′-TCCCTGGAGTAAAACTGCGGTCAAAAATGTCCCTCCGTTCTTAT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 44)





CHES1
5′-GGTTTCTCCAAGGCCCTTCAGGAAGACGATGACCTCGACTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 45)





EDRNA
5′-TGCAACTCTGCTCAGGATCATTTACCAGAACAAATGTATGAGGAAT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 46)





FRZB
5′-GAAGCTTCGTCATCTTGGACTCAGTAAAAGTGATTCTAGCAATAGTG



ATT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 47)





HSPG2
5′-CCAAATGCGCTGGACACATTCGTACCTTTCTGATGATGAGGAC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 48)









For each of the genes in the predictive nine-gene score, the signal is obtained by the average of three probes. The sets of DASL assay primer sequences are given in Table 8, and the DASL probe sequences are given in Table 9.









TABLE 8







DASL assay Primer Sequences for Nine Biomarker Genes








Gene
Primer Sequences





ALOX12
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTTACGCTTTGCAGACCGCATAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 49)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTTACGCTTTGCAGACCGCATAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 50)





ALOX12
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGATCGCTGCAGACCGTAAGGATG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 51)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGATCGCTGCAGACCGTAAGGATG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 52)





ALOX12
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCTAAGGCTCTATTTCCTCCCCCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 53)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCTAAGGCTCTATTTCCTCCCCCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 54)





CD44
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCACCCGCTATGTCCAGAAAGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 55)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCACCCGCTATGTCCAGAAAGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 56)





CD44
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCTAATCCCTGGGCATTGCTTTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 57)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCTAATCCCTGGGCATTGCTTTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 58)





CD44
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCAGCTGATGAGACAAGGAACCTG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 59)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCAGCTGATGAGACAAGGAACCTG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 60)





CDKN2A
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGGAAGCTGTCGACTTCATGACAAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 61)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGGAAGCTGTCGACTTCATGACAAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 62)





CDKN2A
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGAACCCACCCCGCTTTCGTA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 63)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGAACCCACCCCGCTTTCGTA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 64)





CDKN2A
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCGCTTCTGCCTTTTCACTGTGTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 65)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCGCTTCTGCCTTTTCACTGTGTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 66)





CSPG2
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCCACAGTCCAACCTCAGGCTATC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 67)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCCACAGTCCAACCTCAGGCTATC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 68)





CSPG2
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCATGGAAGGAAGTGCTTTGGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 69)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCATGGAAGGAAGTGCTTTGGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 70)





CSPG2
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTGCTCCAGAGTACAACTGGCGT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 71)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTGCTCCAGAGTACAACTGGCGT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 72)





E2F3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCTCAGGATGGGGTCAGATGGAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 73)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCTCAGGATGGGGTCAGATGGAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 74)





E2F3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTAAGTTGGACCAAGGGAAGTCGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 75)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTAAGTTGGACCAAGGGAAGTCGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 76)





E2F3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAGGTTTATCAGCCTCTGCAAGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 77)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTAGGTTTATCAGCCTCTGCAAGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 78)





LAF4
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTCCTCTAACAAGTGGCAGCTGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 79)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTCCTCTAACAAGTGGCAGCTGGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 80)





LAF4
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGGAGATCAAGAAGTCCCAGGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 81)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGGAGATCAAGAAGTCCCAGGG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 82)





LAF4
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTCTGATCCAAAATGAAAGCCACG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 83)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTCTGATCCAAAATGAAAGCCACG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 84)





TGFB3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGAGGGGATGGGGATAGAGGAAAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 85)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGAGGGGATGGGGATAGAGGAAAG-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 86)





TGFB3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCATGTCACACCTTTCAGCCCAAT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 87)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCATGTCACACCTTTCAGCCCAAT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 88)





TGFB3
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCGGTGGTAAAGAAAGTGTGGGTTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 89)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCGGTGGTAAAGAAAGTGTGGGTTT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 90)





TYMS
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGGGTGCTTTCAAAGGAGCTTGAA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 91)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGGGTGCTTTCAAAGGAGCTTGAA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 92)





TYMS
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTTGACACCATCAAAACCAACCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 93)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTTGACACCATCAAAACCAACCC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 94)





TYMS
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAGGGATCCACAAATGCTAAAGAGC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 95)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTAGGGATCCACAAATGCTAAAGAGC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 96)





WNT10B
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCCACCCCTCTTCTGCTCCTTAGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 97)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCCACCCCTCTTCTGCTCCTTAGA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 98)





WNT10B
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCTGTCCAGGCCCTTAGGGAAGT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 99)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCTGTCCAGGCCCTTAGGGAAGT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 100)





WNT10B
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTGCTGTGTGATGAGTGCAAGGTTA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 101)



5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTGCTGTGTGATGAGTGCAAGGTTA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 102)
















TABLE 9







Probe Sequences for Detection of Nine Biomarker Genes in DASL assay








Gene
Probe Sequence





ALOX12
5′-CACTGTCTCAACTACTCAGCTCTCCTGATACGCGAGCCTAGACGTGTCTGCCT



ATA GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 103)





ALOX12
5′-TCTACCTCCAAATATGAGATTCCTGTAGCCCTACGCGACGGTTGAGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 104)





ALOX12
5′-TTAAACCCCCTACATTAGTATCCTACACAGCGACCGTACCATCGTGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 105)





CD44
5′-AATACAGAACGAATCCTGAAGACAAAGCCGATCTTCGCCCAGTCTGTCTGC



CTATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 106)





CD44
5′-ACTGAGGTTGGGGTGTACTAGTAAGGGTGCGACACTATCTCGACGTCTGCC



TATAGT GAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 107)





CD44
5′-AGAATGTGGACATGAAGATTGGTTCTAATGGGCGCACCAAACCGTCTGCCT



ATAGTG AGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 108)





CDKN2
5′-ATTTTGTGAACTAGGGAAGCTCGCCTGGCGAATAAAGGTCGTACGTCTGCC


A
TATAGT GAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 109)





CDKN2
5′-TTTTCATTTAGAAAATAGAGCTTTTCGTTACATCCATCGCAGCGACGTCTGC


A
CTATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 110)





CDKN2
5′-GAGTTTTCTGGAGTGAGCACTAATTGGGTCTCGCAGTAGTGGCGTCTGCCTA


A
TAGTG AGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 111)





CSPG2
5′-CAGATAGTTTAGCCACCAAATTAAACGATGTCCGTGATTGCCTGGGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 112)





CSPG2
5′-GAAGTAGAAGATGTGGACCTCTCCAAATAGGCCGTGTCCTCCGTGGTCTGC



CTATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 113)





CSPG2
5′-TCTCATTATGCTACGGATTCATTAGGGTTCGGGTTCAGACACCGGTCTGCCT



ATAGTG AGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 114)





E2F3
5′-GACCTCTAGGGAGAAAGACATCACCTATTTGGCGGAGGACCACTGTCTGCC



TATAGT GAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 115)





E2F3
5′-GACGTAAAAAATGAAGCAAAACTAGCTGGCCCACGAAATCTGCGGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 116)





E2F3
5′-CTTTGTCCCATCGTGCTTCAGAGCTGCACCCGACTTGGTCAGTCTGCCTATA



GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 117)





LAF4
5′-AAATGGCTAAACAAAGTTAATCCGCCGGTAATGCTATGCTGACTCGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 118)





LAF4
5′-GAGAAAGACAGCTCTTCAAGACTCGTAGTGATGCAGATGCGCTGTGTCTGC



CTATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 119)





LAF4
5′-GTCAGAGAGCAATCAGTACTACAAGCCCGGCATAATACAGTCCTACGTCTG



CCTATA GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 120)





TGFB3
5′-GATGGTAAGTTGAGATGTTGTGTTTGAGTCGAAGATAGCCAATCACGGTCT



GCCTAT AGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 121)





TGFB3 
5′-GAGATATCCTGGAAAACATTCACGATTGGGTACAATTCGGCTCTAGGGTCT



GCCTAT AGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 122)





TGFB3
5′-GTTAGAGGAAGGCTGAACTCTTTGTTAGCATCAGGTTCGTCTAAGGGTCTGC



CTATA GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 123)





TYMS
5′-GATATTGTCAGTCTTTAGGGGTTTGCTACAGATGATGCCGAGAAGAGGTCTG



CCTAT AGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 124)





TYMS
5′-GAC GACAGAAGAATCATCATGTCACTCCTCAGATTAGCCGAGATAAGTCTG



CCTATA GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 125)





TYMS
5′-GTCTTCCAAGGGAGTGAAAATTGCGTAGAATAGCTGCTCATATCGGTCTGCC



TATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 126)





WNT10B
5′-ACCTGAATGGACTAAGATGAAATGAACTTATGGATTTCACGAGGGCAGTCT



GCCTAT AGTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 127)





WNT10B
5′-GTCTCCTTCCATTCAGATGTTATCCGAGGACCTTACTTTAGCAGAAGTCTGC



CTATAG TGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 128)





WNT10B
5′-AGAGTGGGTGAATGTGTGTAAGCTTCCGTACTGTTACAATGTGCGCGTCTGC



CTATA GTGAGTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 129)









To compute the predictive nine-gene score, DASL signal levels are quantile normalized across the array and the signal for each of the three probes is averaged to produce a gene signal. The nine-gene score is then computed using the following formula:





NINE GENE SCORE=(CCSPG2×CSPG2AvgGeneSignal)+(CCDKN2A×CDKN2AAvgGeneSignal)+(CWNT10B×WNT10BAvgGeneSignal)+(CTYMS×TYMSAvgGeneSignal)+(CE2F3×E2F3AvgGeneSignal)+(CLAF4×LAF4AvgGeneSignal)+(CALOX12×ALOX12AvgGeneSignal)+(CCD44×CD44AvgGeneSignal)+(CTGFB3×TGFB3AvgGeneSignal).


The coefficients for the predictive nine-gene score are as follows: CCSPG2=0.000295, CCDKN2A=0.00024, CWNT10B=0.001528, CTYMS=0.000219 CE2F3=0.000585, CLAF4=−8.8e-05, CALOX12=−0.00291, CCD44=−0.00012, CTGFB3=−0.00025.


To compute the predictive fourteen-gene score, DASL signal levels are quantile normalized across the array, and then Z-score normalized across the samples. (Z-score=(signal−average(signal))/stdev(signal)). Once the predictive scores are computed, samples are separated based on whether they are greater or less than the median score. If a sample has a score greater than the median, the subject is predicted to not have recurrence. If the score is less than the median, the subject is predicted to have recurrence. For this predictive score, the higher the score, the less likely the subject is to have recurrence.


The predictive fourteen-gene score can be calculated using the following formula:





FOURTEEN GENE SCORE=(CFOXO1A×FOXO1AZscore)+(CSOX9×SOX9Zscore)+(CCLNS1A×CLNS1AZscore)+(CPTGDS×PTGDSZscore)+(CXPO1×XPO1Zscore)+(CRAD23B×RAD23BZscore)+(CTMPRSS2ETV1 FUSION×TMPRSS2ETV1 FUSIONZscore)+(CABCC3×ABCC3Zscore)+(CAPC×APCZscore)+(CCHES1×CHES1Zscore)+(CEDNRA×EDNRAZscore)+(CFRZB×FRZBZscore)+(CHSPG2 X HSPG2Zscore).


The coefficients for the predictive fourteen-gene score are as follows: CFOXO1A=0.687, CSOX9=0.351, CCLNS1A=0.112, CPTGDS=0.058, CXPO1=−0.208, CLETMD1=−0.019, CRAD23B=−0.065, CTMPRSS2ETV1 FUSION=−0.168, CABCC3=−0.202, CAPC=−0.128, CFRZB=0.310, CHSPG2=−0.048, CEDNRA=0.539, and CCHES1=−0.143.


The coefficients for the predictive seven-gene score are as follows: CFOXO1A=0.625, CSOX9=0.253, CCLNS1A=0.0, CPTGDS=0.056, CXPO1=−0.092, CLETMD1=−0.140, CRAD23B=−0.045, and CTMPRSS2ETV1 FUSION=−0.137.


miRNA Expression Profiling


The isolated RNA is additionally used in the Illumina Human Version 2 MicroRNA Expression Profiling kit (Illumina, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.) in conjunction with the DASL assay. The miRNA expression profiling is performed according to the manufacturer's protocol. The mature miRNA sequence for the six miRNA biomarkers are shown in Table 10. The probe sequences for the six miRNA biomarkers are shown in Table 11.









TABLE 10







Mature miRNA Sequences for Six


 miRNA Biomarkers










Gene
Mature miRNA sequence







Hsa-miR-103
5′-AGCAGCATTGTACAGGGCTATGA-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 130)







Hsa-miR-339
5′-TCCCTGTCCTCCAGGAGCTCA-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 131)







Hsa-miR-183
5′-TATGGCACTGGTAGAATTCACTG-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 132)







Hsa-miR-182
5′-TTTGGCAATGGTAGAACTCACA-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 133)







Hsa-miR-136
5′-AGCTACATTGTCTGCTGGGTTTC-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 134)







Hsa-miR-221
5′-ACTCCATTTGTTTTGATGATGGA-3′




(SEQ ID NO: 135)

















TABLE 11







Probe Sequences for Detection of Six miRNA


Biomarker Genes in DASL assay








Gene
Probe Sequence





Hsa-miR-103
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTCCAGTAGCGACTAGCCCGTCAGCAG



CATTGTACAGGGCTA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 136)





Hsa-miR-339
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTATACCGGCCTAAGCACTCGCACCC



TGTCCTCCAGGAGCT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 137)





Hsa-miR-183
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAATGTTGACCCGGATCTCGTCCATGG



CACTGGTAGAATTCA-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 138)





Hsa-miR-182
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACACTAGCCCTCGCATAGCTTGCGTTTG



GCAATGGTAGAACTC-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 139)





Hsa-miR-136
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCGCAATTCCCTCGATCTTACGCTA



CATTGTCTGCTGGGT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 140)





Hsa-miR-221
5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTAGGTCCCGGACGTAATCACCAC



TCCATTTGTTTTGATGAT-3′



(SEQ ID NO: 141)









To compute a predictive miRNA score, DASL signal levels are quantile normalized across the array, and then Z-score normalized across the samples. (Z-score=(signal−average(signal))/stdev(signal)). The more positive the predictive score, the more likely the subject will recur. The more negative the score, the less likely the patient will recur.


The predictive six miRNA gene score can be calculated using the following formula:





SIX miRNA SCORE=miR-103Zscore+miR-339Zscore+miR-183Zscore+miR-182Zscore−miR-136Zscore−miR221Zscore.


Results

A highly predictive set of 520 genes was determined through analysis of multiple publicly available gene expression datasets (Dhanasekaran et al., Nature 412:822-6 (2001); Lapointe et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:811-6 (2004); LaTulippe et al., Cancer Res. 62:4499-506 (2002); Varambally et al., Cancer Cell 8:393-406 (2005)), datasets from gene expression profiling analysis of 58 prostate cancer patient samples (Liu et al., Cancer Res. 66:4011-9 (2006)), and genes involved in prostate cancer progression based on state of the art understanding of the disease (Tomlins et al., Science 310:644-8 (2005); Varambally et al., Cancer Cell 8:393-406 (2005)). The predictive set of 520 genes were optimized for performance in the cDNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension, and ligation (DASL) assay (Illumina, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.). The DASL assay is based upon multiplexed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) applied in a microarray format and enables the quantitation of expression of up to 1536 probes using RNA isolated from archived formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue samples in a high throughput format (Bibokova et al., Am. J. Pathol. 165:1799-807 (2004); Fan et al., Genome Res. 14:878-85 (2004)). RNA was isolated from 71 patient samples with definitive clinical outcomes and was analyzed using the DASL assay. Based on the data from 71 patients, a subset of fourteen protein encoding genes were found to be capable of separating Gleason 7 subjects with and without recurrence, and thus were found to be good predictors of recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers. The fourteen protein encoding genes included: FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, and the TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION. The expression of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, and TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION was increased in recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers, while the expression of FOXO1A, SOX9, EDNRA, and PTGDS was decreased in recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers. Additionally, based on data obtained from the 71 patients using the MicroRNA Expression Profiling Panels (Illumin, Inc.; San Diego, Calif.) designed for the DASL assay, it was found that six miRNA genes were found to be good predictors of recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers. The six miRNA genes included: miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221. The expression of miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 was increased in recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers, while the expression of miR-136 and miR-221 was decreased in recurrent, progressive, or metastatic prostate cancers.


Example 3

To identify biomarkers predictive of recurrence, FFPE tissue blocks from 73 prostatectomy patient samples were assembled to perform DASL expression profiling with our custom-designed panel of 522 prostate cancer relevant genes. This training set of samples included 29 cases with biochemical PSA recurrence, and 44 cases without recurrence. A lasso Cox PH models was fit to identify the probes that achieved the optimal prediction performance, with the tuning parameter for Lasso selected using a leave-one-out cross-validation technique. This approach identified a panel of eight protein-coding genes (CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, and EDNRA) that could be used to predict recurrence following radical prostatectomy.


















Co-



Test

efficient


Probe Name
Statistics
P-values
estimate




















GI_55770843-S
606
CTNNA1
16.62092
4.56E−05
0.001453


GI_53759152-S
732
XPO1
16.33069
5.32E−05
0.255873


GI_38505192-S
2370
PTGDS
10.3771
0.001276
−0.09241


GI_37704387-S
1730
SOX9
10.2512
0.001366
−0.05805


GI_46430498-S
2021
RELA
9.511572
0.002042
−0.07655


GI_4503580-S
3030
EPB49
9.280651
0.002316
−0.11694


GI_7108363-A
3740
SIM2
8.372014
0.00381
0.030768


GI_4503464-S
3923
EDNRA
7.270868
0.007008
0.07344










Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that these probes could significantly discriminate patients with and without recurrence by the log rank test (p=1.16e-06). This predictive model was applied to a separate DASL profiling experiment on 40 prostate cancer cases (27 without recurrence and 13 with recurrence). Kaplan-Meier analysis on this validation set determined that the model could significantly discriminate patients with and without recurrence (p=0.000153).



















Test

Coefficient



SYMBOL
DEFINITION
Statistics
P-values
estimate
Description




















CTNNA1

Homo sapiens catenin

16.62092
0.0000456
0.001453
catenin (cadherin-



(cadherin-associated



associated protein);



protein); alpha 1;



alpha 1; 102 kDa



102 kDa (CTNNA1);



(CTNNA1); mRNA.



mRNA.


XPO1

Homo sapiens exportin

16.33069
0.0000532
0.255873
exportin 1 (CRM1



1 (CRM1 homolog;



homolog; yeast)



yeast) (XPO1); mRNA.



(XPO1); mRNA.


SOX9

Homo sapiens SRY (sex

10.2512
0.001366
−0.05805
SRY (sex



determining region Y)-



determining region



box 9 (campomelic



Y)-box 9



dysplasia; autosomal



(campomelic



sex-reversal) (SOX9);



dysplasia; autosomal



mRNA.



sex-reversal)







(SOX9); mRNA.


RELA

Homo sapiens v-rel

9.511572
0.002042
−0.07655
v-rel



reticuloendotheliosis



reticuloendotheliosis



viral oncogene homolog



viral oncogene



A; nuclear factor of



homolog A; nuclear



kappa light polypeptide



factor of kappa light



gene enhancer in B-cells



polypeptide gene



3; p65 (avian) (RELA);



enhancer in B-cells 3;



mRNA.



p65 (avian) (RELA);







mRNA.


PTGDS

Homo sapiens

10.3771
0.001276
−0.09241
prostaglandin D2



prostaglandin D2



synthase 21 kDa



synthase 21 kDa (brain)



(brain) (PTGDS);



(PTGDS); mRNA.



mRNA.


EPB49

Homo sapiens

9.280651
0.002316
−0.11694
erythrocyte



erythrocyte membrane



membrane protein



protein band 4.9



band 4.9 (dematin)



(dematin) (EPB49);



(EPB49); mRNA.



mRNA.


SIM2

Homo sapiens single-

8.372014
0.00381
0.030768
single-minded



minded homolog 2



homolog 2



(Drosophila) (SIM2);



(Drosophila) (SIM2);



transcript variant SIM2;



transcript variant



mRNA.



SIM2; mRNA.


EDNRA

Homo sapiens

7.270868
0.007008
0.07344
endothelin receptor



endothelin receptor type



type A (EDNRA);



A (EDNRA); mRNA.



mRNA.


FOXO1A

Homo sapiens forkhead

7.057994
0.007891
−0.00292
forkhead box O1A



box O1A



(rhabdomyosarcoma)



(rhabdomyosarcoma)



(FOXO1A); mRNA.



(FOXO1A); mRNA.























SYMBOL
PROBE_SEQUENCE
Oligo 1
Oligo 2
Oligo 3







CTNNA1
TGTCCATGCAGGC
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
CAAGTGGGATCC



AACATAAACTTCA
TAACGGACGT
CATATCGTGT
TAAAAGTCTAGC



AGTGGGATCCTAA
GTCCATGCAG
GTCCATGCAG
GGAAACTGGCG



AAGTCTAG
GCAACATAAA
GCAACATAAA
ATCAGCTAGTGT



(SEQ ID
CT
CT
CTGCCTATAGTG



NO: 142)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID




NO: 143)
NO: 144)
AGTC






NO: 145)





XPO1
CCAGCAAAGAATG
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
TACTGACACATT



GCTCAAGAAGTAC
TAACGGACGC
CATATCGTGC
TAAAGGAGCAT



TGACACATTTAAA
CAGCAAAGAA
CAGCAAAGAA
ACCCACAGACGT



GGAGCAT
TGGCTCAAGA
TGGCTCAAGA
TGGTCCGTAGGT



(SEQ ID
A
A
CTGCCTATAGTG



NO: 146)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
AGTC




NO: 147)
NO: 148)
(SEQ ID






NO: 149)





SOX9
CTCCTACCCGCCC
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
CTCACAGTACGA



ATCACCCGCTCAC
TAACGGACGC
CATATCGTGC
CTACACCGACTC



AGTACGACTACAC
TCCTACCCGC
TCCTACCCGC
TGGGAGTACCTA



CGAC
CCATCACCC
CCATCACCC
GCTTCGGAGTCT



(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
GCCTATAGTGAG



NO: 150)
NO: 151)
NO: 152)
TC






(SEQ ID






NO: 153)





RELA
TCCCTTTACGTCAT
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
CCATCAACTATG



CCCTGAGCACCAT
TAACGGACTC
CATATCGTTC
ATGAGTTTCCAC



CAACTATGATGAG
CCTTTACGTC
CCTTTACGTC
AGGCAAGCGTG



TTTCC
ATCCCTGAGC
ATCCCTGAGC
GGTCTCATGGTC



(SEQ ID
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
TGCCTATAGTGA



NO: 154)
NO: 155)
NO: 156)
GTC






(SEQ ID






NO: 157)





PTGDS
AGCACCTACTCCG
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
GAGACCGACTAC



TGTCAGTGGTGGA
TAACGGACGA
CATATCGTGA
GACCAGTACCGC



GACCGACTACGAC
GCACCTACTC
GCACCTACTC
TGAACGTCAAAT



CAGTAC
CGTGTCAGTG
CGTGTCAGTG
TGCAGGGGTCTG



(SEQ ID
GT
GT
CCTATAGTGAGT



NO: 158)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
C




NO: 159)
NO: 160)
(SEQ ID






NO: 161)





EPB49
CCCTCAGACCAAG
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
AGGATCTCATCA



CACCTCATCGAGG
TAACGGACCC
CATATCGTCC
TCGAGTCATATT



ATCTCATCATCGA
CTCAGACCAA
CTCAGACCAA
CCAGGGGAGCT



GTCAT
GCACCTCATC
GCACCTCATC
ACGAGCGTGTCT



(SEQ ID
SEQ ID
SEQ ID
GCCTATAGTGAG



NO: 162)
NO: 163)
NO: 164)
TC






(SEQ ID






NO: 165)





SIM2
TTTGTGGTAGCAT
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
ATCATGTATATA



CTGATGGCAAAAT
TAACGGACGT
CATATCGTGT
TCCGAGACCGGC



CATGTATATATCC
TTGTGGTAGC
TTGTGGTAGC
CTAGTAGATCGG



GAGACCG
ATCTGATGGC
ATCTGATGGC
CGCAATTTCGTC



(SEQ ID
AA
AA
TGCCTATAGTGA



NO: 166)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
GTC




NO: 167)
NO: 168)
(SEQ ID






NO:1 69)





EDNRA
GGTGTAAAAGCAG
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
TAAGAGATATTT



CACAAGTGCAATA
TAACGGACGG
CATATCGTGG
CCTCAAATTTGC



AGAGATATTTCCT
TGTAAAAGCA
TGTAAAAGCA
GGACAGTACCTA



CAAATTTGC
GCACAAGTGC
GCACAAGTGC
CGTTGGCAAAGG



(SEQ ID
A
A
TCTGCCTATAGT



NO: 170)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
GAGTC




NO: 171)
NO: 172)
(SEQ ID






NO: 173)





FOXO1A
TCCTAGGAGAAGA
ACTTCGTCAG
GAGTCGAGGT
GGACAACAACA



GCTGCATCCATGG
TAACGGACGT
CATATCGTGT
GTAAATTTGCTA



ACAACAACAGTAA
CCTAGGAGAA
CCTAGGAGAA
TCCTGTAGTACC



ATTTGCTA
GAGCTGCATC
GAGCTGCATC
GGGTTTGAAAGG



(SEQ ID
CA
CA
GTCTGCCTATAG



NO: 174)
(SEQ ID
(SEQ ID
TGAGTC




NO: 175)
NO: 176)
(SEQ ID






NO: 177)









In addition, comprehensive DASL miRNA profiling of these same 73 FFPE cases was performed using the MicroRNA Expression Profiling Panels (Illumina, Inc.) designed for the DASL assay. MicroRNA probes were filtered to retain only those that were present on the microRNA microarrays used for both the training and validation sets, reducing the total number of probes examined to 403 miRNA probes. A panel of five microRNAs (hsa-miR-103, hsa-miR-340, hsa-miR-136, HS168, HS111) was identified correlated with prostate cancer recurrence.
















Probe Name
Coefficient



















hsa-miR-103
0.270345



hsa-miR-340
0.075671



hsa-miR-136
−0.09586



HS_168
−0.06271



HS_111
−0.00129










Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test determined that this panel could significantly discriminate patients with and without recurrence in the training set (p=1.63E-05). However, in the independent validation set, this panel was borderline significant in its ability to discriminate patients with and without recurrence (p=0.056).


An additional analysis was performed using combined data from both the 1536 protein-coding and 403 miRNA DASL probes. Combined analysis of both biomarker panels identified seven protein-coding and one miRNA gene (XPO1, hsa-miR-103, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, EDNRA, FOXO1A), and this combined panel was also significant in both the training set (p=1.41E-07) and the validation set (p=0.009).


















Co-



Test

efficient


Probe Name
statistics
P-values
Estimate




















GI_53759152-S
 732
XPO1
16.33069
5.32E−05
0.190254


hsa-miR-103
hsa-
hsa-
12.6722
0.000371
0.146229



miR-
miR-103



103


GI_38505192-S
2370
PTGDS
10.3771
0.001276
−0.09324


GI_37704387-S
1730
SOX9
10.2512
0.001366
−0.03452


GI_46430498-S
2021
RELA
9.511572
0.002042
−0.06569


GI_4503580-S
3030
EPB49
9.280651
0.002316
−0.09152


GI_4503464-S
3923
EDNRA
7.270868
0.007008
0.074626


GI_9257221-S
5330
FOXO1A
7.057994
0.007891
−0.00292









Next we applied the three biomarker panels to the subset of cases in the training (n=46) and validation sets (n=18) that had a Gleason score of seven. Of the three panels, only the mRNA panel was significant (p=0.00927) at discriminating Gleason score seven cases in both the training and validation sets (see below).















Predictive p-value (Logrank Test)













combined



8 mRNA
5 miRNA
mRNA/miRNA


Training Set
panel
panel
panel













All Cases (n = 73)
7.19E−07
1.63E−05
1.41E−07


Gleason 7 Cases (n = 46)
2.13E−05
0.004
0.000243


Validation Set


All Cases (n = 40)
0.000153
0.056
0.009


Gleason 7 Cases (n = 18)
0.00927
0.69
0.164









Hierarchical clustering of the patient samples using this set of eight genes performed well in separating Gleason seven patients with and without recurrence. While the trend in the combined panel of mRNA and miRNA was towards significance (p=0.164) for the validation set, and could possibly achieve significance with a larger sample set, it did not perform as well as the mRNA panel alone.


Example 4

Panel of ten protein-coding genes and two miRNA genes (RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, miR-519d, and miR-647) were identified that could be used to separate patients with and without biochemical recurrence (p<0.001), as well as for the subset of 42 Gleason score 7 patients (p<0.001). an independent validation analysis on 40 samples was performed and it was found that the biomarker panel was also significant at prediction of recurrence for all cases (p=0.013) and for a subset of 19 Gleason score 7 cases (p=0.010), both of which were adjusted for relevant clinical information including T-stage, PSA and Gleason score. Importantly, these biomarkers could significantly predict clinical recurrence for Gleason 7 patients. These biomarkers may increase the accuracy of prognostication following radical prostatectomy using formalin-fixed specimens.


Patient Samples

In the initial training set, 70 cases were used (29 with biochemical recurrence and 41 controls), 45 patients from Sunnybrook Health Science Center (Toronto, ON), and 25 patients from Emory University. The 45 cases of paraffin-embedded tissue samples from Toronto were drawn from men who underwent radical prostatectomy as the sole treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa) between 1998 and 2006. The clinical data includes multiple clinicopathologic variables such as prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, histologic grade (Gleason score), tumor stage (pathologic stage category for example; organ confined, pT2; or with extra-prostatic extension, pT3a; or with seminal vesicle invasion, pT3b), and biochemical recurrence rates. For the cases from Emory University, both the training set (25 cases) and validation set (40 cases)


FFPE samples were also selected from a screen of over a thousand patients through an IRB-approved retrospective study at Emory University of men who had undergone radical prostatectomy. Those who were included met specific inclusion criteria, had available tissue specimens, documented long term follow-up and consented to participate or were included by IRB waiver. The cases were assigned prostate ID numbers to protect their identities. These patients did not receive neo-adjuvant or concomitant hormonal therapy. Their demographic, treatment and long-term clinical outcome data have been collected and recorded in an electronic database. Clinical data recorded include PSA measurements, radiological studies and findings, clinical findings, tissue biopsies and additional therapies that the subjects may have received.


RNA Preparation

Tissue cores (1 mm) were used for RNA preparation rather than sections because of the heterogeneity of samples and the opportunity for obtaining cores with very high percentage tumor content. H&E stained slides were reviewed by a board certified urologic pathologist (AOO) to identify regions of cancer to select corresponding areas for cutting of cores from paraffin blocks. Total RNA was prepared at the Emory Biomarker Service Center from FFPE cores using the Ambion Recoverall MagMax methodology in 96-well format on a MagMax 96 Liquid Handler Robot (Life Technologies, Carlsbad, Calif.). FFPE RNA was quantitated by nanodrop spectrophotometry, and tested for RNA integrity and quality by Taqman analysis of the RPL13a ribosomal protein on a HT7900 real-time PCR instrument (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.). Samples with sufficient yield (>500 ng), A260/A280 ratio >1.8 and RPL13a CT values less than 30 cycles were used for miRNA and DASL profiling.


Custom Prostate Cancer DASL Assay Pool (DAP)

The DASL assay enables quantitation of expression using RNA isolated from archived FFPE tumor tissue samples in a high throughput format. Data from multiple publicly available gene expression datasets, along with genes involved in prostate cancer progression based on state-of-the-art understanding of the disease, were distilled to develop a highly predictive set of 522 genes for use in the DASL assay. Due to specific probe design considerations, this panel had three probes for 497 genes, two probes for 20 genes, and a single probe for five genes, two of which were specific to TMPRSS2-ERG and TMPRSS2-ETV1 fusions transcripts. The unique combination of genes was optimized for performance in the DASL assay using stringent criteria that predicts performance of the primer sets. The panel includes genes found to be correlated with Gleason score. It also includes prognostic markers, and genes associated with metastasis. In addition, a number of genes known from other studies to be critical in prostate cancer such as NKX3.1, PTEN, and the Androgen Receptor are all included in the panel. Other genes that play important roles in the Wnt, Hedgehog, TGFβ, Notch, MAPK and PI3K pathways are also present in this gene set. Finally, primer sets that detect chromosomal translocations in ERG 9, ETV1 15, and ETV4 16 are also included in this panel. The optimal oligonucleotide sequence for each gene probe was determined using an oligonucleotide scoring algorithm. The oligonucleotide pool or DASL Assay Pool (DAP) was synthesized by Illumina for use with the 96-well Universal Array Matrix (UAM).


Data Analysis

DASL fluorescent intensities were interpreted in GenomeStudio, quantile normalized, and exported for meta-analysis. Average signal intensity, genes detected (p-value=0.01), background, and noise (standard deviation of background) were analyzed for trends by plate, row, and column. The two endpoints of interest were postoperative biochemical recurrence, defined as two detectable PSA readings (>0.2 ng/ml), and clinical recurrence, defined as evidence of local or metastatic disease. The primary outcome of interest was time to biochemical recurrence following surgery. A local recurrence was defined as recurrence of cancer in the prostatic bed that was detected by either a palpable nodule on digital rectal examination (DRE) and subsequently verified by a positive biopsy, and/or a positive imaging study (prostascint or CT scan) accompanied by a detectable postoperative PSA result and lack of evidence for metastases. Also, patients whose PSA level decreased following adjuvant pelvic radiation therapy for elevated postoperative PSA were considered as local recurrence cases. A recurrence with metastases was defined as a positive imaging study indicating presence of a tumor outside of the prostatic bed.


To identify important probes and build and evaluate prediction models for prostate cancer biochemical recurrence, the following strategy was adopted. In the training step, the prediction model was built based on the time to biochemical recurrence. Specifically, we first fit a univariate Cox proportional hazard (PH) model for each individual probe using the training data set, and a set of important mRNA and miRNA probes were then preselected based on a false discovery rate (FDR) threshold of 0.30. Next, to identify the optimal prediction score based on the preselected probes, we fit a lasso Cox PH model using the training data set, where the tuning parameter for lasso was selected using a leave-one-out cross-validation technique. See Goeman, Biom J 2010, 52:70-84. The lasso Cox PH model was fitted first using the set of preselected mRNA probes only and then using the complete set of preselected mRNA and miRNA probes resulting in an optimal mRNA panel and an optimal combined mRNA/miRNA panel, respectively. Based on each biomarker panel, a final prediction model for recurrence was built to also incorporate relevant clinical biomarkers, namely, T-stage, PSA and Gleason score, through fitting Cox PH models.


To evaluate and validate the final prediction models obtained from the training phase, 79 samples from 40 patients were used and replicate samples from the same patient were again averaged to generate a single average signal for each patient. Each prediction model from the training phase was used to generate a predictive score for each subject in the validation data set, and subjects were subsequently divided into high and low scoring groups using the median predictive score. Kaplan Meier analysis was performed to compare the time to biochemical recurrence, between high (poor score) and low (good score) risk groups, and the statistical significance was determined using the log-rank test. Similarly, the final model that included both mRNA and miRNA probes for predicting time to clinical recurrence in both training and validation data sets was evaluated. The available-case approach was adopted in our analyses and the sample sizes used in each step of building and evaluating prediction models may be less than the total sample size.


Custom Prostate DASL Profiling

DASL expression profiling with a custom-designed prostate cancer panel (see Materials and Methods section) and the Illumina DASL microRNA (miRNA) panel were performed on 70 prostatectomy patient samples to identify biomarkers predictive of recurrence. An independent validation profiling experiment was performed on 40 additional samples. MicroRNA probes were filtered to retain only those that were present on the miRNA microarrays used for both the training and validation sets, reducing the total number of probes examined to 403 microRNA probes. The training set included 29 cases with observed biochemical PSA recurrence (median time to recurrence =19 months), and 41 cases censored, i.e., without observed recurrence during the follow-up (median follow-up time=83.0 months).


Integrated DASL Biomarker Analysis

After fitting a univariate Cox proportional hazard (PH) model for each individual probe using the training data, a set of 27 important probes were preselected based on an FDR threshold of 0.30. Next, to identify the optimal prediction score based on the preselected probes, a lasso Cox proportional hazard (PH) model was first fit using the set of 25 preselected mRNA probes only, resulting in a panel of nine protein-coding genes shown in the Table below (RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, and BCL2).

















Symbol
Description
Coefficient




















RAD23B
RAD23 homolog B
0.152155



FBP1
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1
0.310566



TNFRSF1A
Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor
−0.56059




Superfamily, Member 1A



NOTCH3
Notch homolog 3
0.426284



ETV1
Ets Variant Gene 1 (ETV1)
0.157241



BID
BH3 Interacting Domain Death
0.247507




Agonist (BID)



SIM2
Single-Minded Homolog 2
0.042942



ANXA1
Annexin A1
−0.18514



BCL2
B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2
0.028339










A final prediction model was then built to include the predictive score based on this panel of nine mRNA biomarkers as well as the relevant clinical biomarkers including T-stage, PSA and Gleason score, which could be used to predict recurrence following radical prostatectomy. Kaplan-Meier analysis (FIG. 1A) demonstrated that these probes could significantly discriminate patients with and without recurrence by the log rank test (p<0.001). The final predictive model developed on the training set was applied to the validation set, a separate, independent DASL profiling experiment performed on a different day. Kaplan-Meier analysis (FIG. 1B) on this validation set determined that the model could discriminate patients with and without recurrence (p=0.010).


Subsequently, the above training procedure was repeated using the complete set of 27 preselected mRNA and miRNA probes, and an optimal panel of ten mRNAs and two microRNAs (additional oligonucleotides below) was identified and built as a prediction model for prostate cancer biochemical recurrence, which again included relevant clinical biomarkers. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test determined that this panel could significantly discriminate patients with and without recurrence both in the training set (p<0.001, FIG. 1C) and in the validation set (p=0.013, FIG. 1D).









FBP1


(SEQ ID NO: 178)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTGGCATTGCTGGTTCTACCAAC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 179)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTGGCATTGCTGGTTCTACCAAC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 180)


5′-TGACAGGTGATCAAGTTAAGAAGTCGAGCGTTCGGAGCACTTAATCG





TCTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





TNFRSF1A


(SEQ ID NO: 181)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTCCCCAAGGAAAATATATCCACCC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 182)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTCCCCAAGGAAAATATATCCACCC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 183)


5′-CAAAATAATTCGATTTGCTGTACAGTAGCCCAGGTAGCGGAGCTTGT





CTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





NOTCH3


(SEQ ID NO: 184)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTTCACAGGAACCTATTGCGAGGT-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 185)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTTCACAGGAACCTATTGCGAGGT-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 186)


5′-GACATTGACGAGTGTCAGAGTAGCTGACTCTTGTAGTATTGCGCGAA





GTCTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





ETV1


(SEQ ID NO: 187)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTATGTTTGAAAAGGGCCCCAGG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 188)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTTATGTTTGAAAAGGGCCCCAGG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 189)


5′-AGTTTTATGATGACACCTGTGTTTACGGATGGCAACAAGTACGGATT





GTCTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





BID


(SEQ ID NO: 190)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGTTCCAGCCTCAGGGATGAGTG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 191)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGTTCCAGCCTCAGGGATGAGTG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 192)


5′-ATCACAAACCTACTGGTGTTTGGCGCTAGGTTAATAAGCGGATGCGT





CTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





ANXA1


(SEQ ID NO: 193)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGATCAGAATTCCTCAAGCAGGCC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 194)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGATCAGAATTCCTCAAGCAGGCC-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 195)


5′-GGTTTATTGAAAATGAAGAGCAAGGGTTCTATGTTTGGACGCCATGG





TCTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





BCL2


(SEQ ID NO: 196)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCGTGCCTCATGAAATAAAGATCCG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 197)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTCGTGCCTCATGAAATAAAGATCCG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 198)


5′-AAGGAATTGGAATAAAAATTTCCGGATGACGACCGAATACCGTTGGT





CTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





CCNG2


(SEQ ID NO: 199)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACGCCACTCATGATGTGATCCGGATT-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 200)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTGCCACTCATGATGTGATCCGGATT-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 201)


5′-GTCAGTGTAAATGTACTGCTTCTGGTGCTCTGAGACGGCAAAGATTC





GTCTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′





hsa-miR-647


ProbeSeq


(SEQ ID NO: 202)


5′-GTGGCTGCACTCACTTC-3′





TargetMatureSeqs


(SEQ ID NO: 203)


5′-GTGGCTGCACTCACTTCCTTC-3′





Oligo


(SEQ ID NO: 204)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACTTGAGCGGACCCAGA





TGTACCGGTGGCTGCACTCACTTC-3′





hsa-miR-519d


ProbeSeq


(SEQ ID NO: 205)


5′-AGTGCCTCCCTTTAGAGTG-3′





TargetMatureSeqs


(SEQ ID NO: 206)


5′-CAAAGTGCCTCCCTTTAGAGTG-3′





Oligo


(SEQ ID NO: 207)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACCAGAGTGTCCCCGT





GGCGATACAGTGCCTCCCTTTAGAGTG-3′





RAD23B


(SEQ ID NO: 13)


5′-ACTTCGTCAGTAACGGACAATCCTTCCTTGCTTCCAGCG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 14)


5′-GAGTCGAGGTCATATCGTAATCCTTCCTTGCTTCCAGCG-3′





(SEQ ID NO: 208)


5′-TACTACAGCAGATAGGTCGAGAGTAGGGTTCGGGTTCAGACACCGGT





CTGCCTATAGTGAGTC-3′







Prediction of Cases with a Gleason Score 7


Prediction of recurrence for patients with a Gleason score 7 is particularly difficult. In order to address this issue, we applied the biomarker panels to the subset of cases in the training and validation sets that had a Gleason score 7. The prediction model based on the nine-mRNA panel was significant at discriminating biochemical recurrence in Gleason score 7 cases in both the training set (p<0.001, FIG. 7A) and the validation set (p=0.027, FIG. 7B). For the prediction model based on the combined panel of ten mRNAs and two miRNAs in the tables below, the predictive value was again significant for both the training set (p=<0.001, FIG. 7C) and the validation set (p=0.010, FIG. 7D).














Symbol
Description
Coefficient

















RAD23B
RAD23 homolog B
0.070324


FBP1
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1
0.251286


TNFRSF1A
Tumor necrosis factor receptor
−0.58801



superfamily, member 1A


CCNG2
Cyclin G2
0.008039


hsa-miR-
hsa-miR-647
−0.31794


647


LETMD1
LETM1 domain containing 1
0.063197


NOTCH3
Notch homolog 3
0.366933


ETV1
ETS variant gene 1 (ETV1)
0.179233


hsa-miR-
hsa-miR-519d
0.550635


519d


BID
BH3 interacting domain death agonist (BID)
0.128237


SIM2
Single-minded homolog 2
0.124271


ANXA1
Annexin A1
−0.14319
























Combined




mRNA/miRNA



mRNA panel
panel




















Training Set





All Cases (n = 61)
<0.001
<0.001



Gleason 7 Cases (n = 42)
<0.001
<0.001



Validation Set



All Cases (n = 35)
0.01
0.013



Gleason 7 Cases (n = 19)
0.027
0.01










Analysis of Clinical Recurrence

Although most patients who have clinical recurrence following prostatectomy also have biochemical recurrence, there is a significant population of patients with biochemical recurrence who do not have clinically significant recurrences observed during their follow-ups. To evaluate our biomarker panel of biochemical recurrence for predicting the clinical recurrence, the prediction model was tested based on the combined mRNA/miRNA panel in the same training and validation samples using their clinical recurrence outcome data. Unfortunately, clinical recurrence data was lacking on some of the samples, and the total number of samples used in the training set was reduced. In the training data, the combined mRNA/miRNA panel was highly significant for predicting recurrence in all patients (p=0.002) as well as in the subset of patients with a Gleason score 7 (p=0.004); in the validation data, it was also significant for predicting recurrence in patients with a Gleason score 7 (p=0.023) and trended towards significance in all patients (p=0.078).















Combined mRNA/



miRNA panel



















Training Set




All Cases (n = 56)
0.002



Gleason 7 Cases (n = 37)
0.004



Validation Set



All Cases (n = 35)
0.078



Gleason 7 Cases (n = 19)
0.023










An analysis was also performed to construct a predictive set of biomarkers based on the clinical recurrence data instead of biochemical recurrence. Only three probes passed the initial preselection step for the univariate Cox PH modeling, all corresponding to the ETV1 gene. Furthermore, the prediction model built on clinical recurrence did not perform as well as the model built on biochemical recurrence, which is likely due to the considerably less number of clinical recurrences in the training set as well as the smaller total sample size.


Discussion

The DASL assay has been used to identify a 16-gene set that correlates with prostate cancer relapse. Bibikova et al., Genomics 2007, 89:666-672. Overlap between our panel of ten mRNA and two miRNA biomarkers described here and the previously described 16-gene panel was limited to FBP1 even though ten of the genes in the 16-gene panel reported were included in our 522 custom prostate DASL panel. When the performance of the probes corresponding to those ten mRNAs was analyzed in our dataset, they were not able to significantly discriminate patients at higher and lower risk of recurrence. The gene signature selection and prediction model building were performed in separate steps and the signature selection was based on the correlation between the gene expression and Gleason score rather than between the gene expression and time to biochemical recurrence; our analytic approach overcomes these limitations. Specifically, our approach of building (training) prediction models takes advantage of recent advancement in regularized regression models for survival outcomes; regularized regression models can achieve simultaneous feature selection and model estimation and avoid model overfitting leading to better prediction performance.


Two other studies have employed DASL profiling to prostate cancer, but not detected any signature that improved upon clinical models in validation sets. Sboner et al., BMC Med Genomics 2010, 3:8 and Nakagawa et al., PLoS ONE, 2008, 3:e2318. While these studies used large cohorts with long-term follow-up, they did not include probes corresponding to microRNA genes. Moreover, these earlier studies suggested that tumor heterogeneity may play an important role in confounding signature identification. For our study of prostatectomy specimens, the most prominent tumor lesion were identified, and used a tissue core sample from that region to minimize stromal contributions and tumor heterogeneity.


In our twelve-gene predictive biomarker panel, nine of the genes are positively associated with recurrence, and three are negatively associated with recurrence. The nine genes positively associated with recurrence included miR-519d, Notch homolog 3 (Notch3), Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1 (FBP1), ETS variant gene 1 (ETV1), BH3 interacting domain death agonist (BID), Single-Minded homolog 2 (SIM2), RAD23 homolog B (RAD23B), LETM1 domain containing 1 (LETMD1), and Cyclin G2 (CCNG2). Little is known about miR-519d other than it may be associated with obesity. Martinelli et al., miR-519d Overexpression Is Associated With Human Obesity, Obesity (Silver Spring) 2010. NOTCH3 is one of four Notch family receptors in humans, and Notch signaling has been shown to be important for prostate cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion as well as normal prostate development. FBP1 is expressed in the prostate and is involved in gluconeogenesis. The identification of this metabolic enzyme as a biomarker of recurrence is initially surprising. FBP1 was overexpressed in independent microarray analyses of prostate cancers. ETV1 is one of the recurrent translocations found in prostate cancers, and has been used in clinical models of recurrence following prostatectomy. Cheville et al., J Clin Oncol 2008, 26:3930-3936. BID is a pro-apoptotic protein that binds to BCL2 and potentiates apoptotic responses upon cleavage in response to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and other death receptors. SIM2 was identified as a potential biomarker of prostate cancer. Halvorsen et al., Clin Cancer Res 2007, 13:892-897. SIM2 functions as a transcription factor that represses the proapoptotic gene BNIP3. RAD23B plays a role in DNA damage recognition and nucleotide excision repair, as well as inhibiting MDM2 mediated degradation of the p53 tumor suppressor. LETMD1 (also known as HCCR) is an oncogene that is induced by Wnt and PI3K/AKT signaling, inhibits p53 function, and is a biomarker for hepatocellular and breast cancers. Cyclin G2 is an atypical cyclin that is induced by DNA damage in a p53-independent manner, as well as by PI3K/AKT/FOXO signals, and induces p53-dependent cell cycle arrest.


The three genes in the predictive biomarker panel negatively associated with recurrence were miR-647, the TNFα receptor (TNFRSF1A), and annexin A1 (ANXA1). While little is known about miR-647, TNFRSF1A (also known as TNFR1) mediates pro-apoptotic responses to TNFα ligand Annexin A1 expression is reduced in early onset prostate cancer and high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. ANXA1 plays roles in vesicle trafficking and reduced ANXA1 promotes EMT and metastasis, and upregulates autocrine IL-6 signaling.

Claims
  • 1. A method of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a cancer in a subject, the method comprising detecting in a sample from the subject one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, LAF4, CTNNA1, XPO1, PTGDS, SOX9, RELA, EPB49, SIM2, EDNRA, RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, ANXA1, BCL2, miR-519d, miR-647, FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and/or miR-221, wherein an increase or decrease in one or more of the biomarkers as compared to a standard indicating a recurrent, progressive, or metastatic cancer.
  • 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample comprises prostate tumor tissue.
  • 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cancer comprises a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion-positive prostate cancer.
  • 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step comprises detecting mRNA and miRNA expression level patterns of the biomarkers.
  • 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the RNA detection comprises reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay; quantitative real-time-PCR (qRT-PCR); Northern analysis; microarray analysis; or cDNA-mediated annealing, selection, extension, and ligation (DASL) assay.
  • 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting in a sample from the subject two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, TYMS, TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4.
  • 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the detected biomarkers comprise two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, CLNS1A, PTGDS, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, ABCC3, APC, CHES1, EDNRA, FRZB, HSPG2, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, miR-182, miR-136, and miR-221.
  • 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the detected biomarkers are selected from the group consisting of miR-519d and/or miR-647 and two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or more markers selected from the group consisting of RAD23B, FBP1, TNFRSF1A, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, and ANXA1.
  • 9. A method of treating a subject with cancer comprising modifying a treatment regimen of the subject based on the results of the method of claim 1.
  • 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the treatment regimen is modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CSPG2, WNT10B, E2F3, CDKN2A, and TYMS as compared to a standard, and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of TGFB3, ALOX12, CD44, and LAF4 as compared to a standard.
  • 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an increase in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of CLNS1A, XPO1, LETMD1, RAD23B, TMPRSS2_ETV1 FUSION, ABCC3, SPC, CHES1, FRZB, HSPG2, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 as compared to a standard, and a decrease in one or more biomarkers selected from the group consisting of FOXO1A, SOX9, PTGDS, EDNRA, miR-136, and miR-221 as compared to a standard.
  • 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the treatment regimen is further modified to be aggressive based on an increased expression of RAD23B, FBP1, CCNG2, LETMD1, NOTCH3, ETV1, BID, SIM2, miR-519d and the decreased expression of TNFRSF1A, miR-647, and ANXA1.
  • 13. A method of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a prostate cancer in a subject, the method comprising analyzing a sample from the subject for an aberrant expression pattern of four or more biomarkers wherein at least one of the biomarkers is a microRNA selected from miR-519d, miR-647, miR-103, miR-339, miR-183, and miR-182 miR-136, and/or miR-221.
  • 14. A method of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a cancer in a subject, the method comprising detecting in a sample from the subject an increase in miR-519d.
  • 15. A method of predicting the recurrence, progression, and metastatic potential of a cancer in a subject, the method comprising detecting in a sample from the subject a decrease in miR-647.
Parent Case Info

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 61/291,681 filed Dec. 31, 2009 and U.S. provisional application No. 61/329,387 filed Apr. 29, 2010 both hereby incorporated by reference.

PCT Information
Filing Document Filing Date Country Kind 371c Date
PCT/US10/62293 12/29/2010 WO 00 9/20/2012
Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
61291681 Dec 2009 US
61329387 Apr 2010 US