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CMCC 1337

Urine Biomarkers for Bladder Cancer

Inventors: Bruce Zetter, Adam Feldman, Scott McDougal

Categories: Diagnostic/Prognostic

SubCategories: Oncology/Hematology, Urology

Keywords: Biomarker

Invention Description:

Bladder cancer is the second most common genitourinary cancer in the US. Using proteomics and antibody-based approaches, Dr. Zetter and colleagues found elevated levels of Cystatin B, a cathepsin protease inhibitor, in tissue and urine of bladder cancer patients compared to controls, and demonstrated a positive correlation between levels of Cystatin B and tumor grade, stage and shorter time to disease recurrence and progression.

Applications:

Cystatin B could be a clinically useful prognostic marker for bladder cancer. There are about 70,980 newly diagnosed cases of bladder cancer in the US in 2009, with an estimated 14,330 deaths. Although 70% of newly diagnosed cases are localised, 50-70% of these will recur after tumor resection and 10-20% will progress to an invasive stage. The ability to predict which patients will progress remains a challenge. The technology of Dr. Zetter and colleagues could be the basis for a non-invasive lab test to determine the prognosis of patients with bladder cancer.

Competitive Advantages:

Current predictive tools for disease recurrence or progression in bladder cancer are pathologic variables such as tumor grade, stage, and carcinoma in situ. By multivariate analysis, Dr. Zetter’s team found that Cystatin B was an improvement on the current pathologic prognostic factors. The Cystatin B prognostic marker test could improve the ability to predict which patients will recur and develop invasive and metastatic disease, and could provide dependable data to accurately personalise the agressiveness of the treatment regimens. Results from the Cystatin B test could help clinicians decide on the best course of action, such as the frequency of surveillance visits, treatment with intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy, or cystectomy, at the time of diagnosis and during follow-up periods.

Business Opportunity:

Exclusive license and/or sponsored research available

Key Publications: Clinical Cancer Research 2009; 15(3): 1024-1031.

IPStatus: Pat. Pend.