Georgetown University Medical Center

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Cancer

Section: For Industry

Category(ies): Cancer Therapeutics

Reference #: SCRI422514

OTC Contact: Ruchika Nijhara Ph.D. (Directory Information | Send a Message)

Description

Researchers at Georgetown University have identified a novel panel of biomarkers that could be used in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cervical cancer or cervical dysplasia. The present invention relates to such methods by using a combination of certain biomarkers such as hTERT, IGFBP-3, transferrin receptor, beta-catenin, Myc-HPV E6 interaction, HPV E7, and telomere length.

Applications

Applications:

  • Biomarkers can be used to classify the grade of cervical lesion for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.
  • Use of gene-silencing to knock-down expression of the biomarkers
  • Use panel for the screening of therapeutic agents that target one or more of the biomarkers

Advantages:

  • Noninvasive procedures
  • Suitable for large scale screening of patients
  • More accurate than conventional cytological screening
  • Possible to select the treatment most appropriate for that patient by predicting the final diagnostic group of a patient by classifying the grade of a cervical lesion.

Advantages

Stage of Development

Stage of Development:  In-vitro studies completed

Inventors:  Richard Schlegel

Relevant Publications

  • “Activation of the canonical Wnt pathway during genital keratinocyte transformation: a model for cervical cancer progression”. Schlegel et al; Cancer Res. 2005 Jul 15;65(14):6199-206.
  • “IGFBP-3, a marker of cellular senescence, is overexpressed in human papillomavirus-immortalized cervical cells and enhances IGF-1-induced mitogenesis”. Schlegel et al; J Virol. 2004 Jun;78(11):5720-7.
  • “Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 expression increases during immortalization of cervical keratinocytes by human papillomavirus type 16 E6 and E7 proteins.” Schlegel et al; Am J Pathol. 2002 Aug;161(2):603-10.
  • “Cervical epithelial cells transduced with the papillomavirus E6/E7 oncogenes maintain stable levels of oncoprotein expression but exhibit progressive, major increases in hTERT gene expression and telomerase activity”. Schlegel et al; Am J Pathol. 2002 Apr;160(4):1251-7.
  • “Simian virus 40 small tumor antigen activates AKT and telomerase and induces anchorage-independent growth of human epithelial cells”. Schlegel et al; J Virol. 2002 Nov;76(21):10685-91.

Patent Status

US Patent Application # 10/565,021 entitled, “Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Cancer” filed on January 17, 2006.