title: Expression genomics of cervical cancer: molecular classification and prediction of radiotherapy response by DNA microarray.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer are declining in the United States; however, worldwide, cervical cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in women, second only to breast cancer. This disparity is at least partially explained by the absence of or comparatively ineffective screening programs in the developing world. Recent advances in expression genomics have enabled the use of DNA microarray to profile gene expression of various cancers. These expression profiles may be suitable for molecular classification and prediction of disease outcome and treatment response. We envision that expression genomics applied in cervical cancer may provide a more rational approach to the classification and treatment of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this report, we examined the expression profiles of cervical cancer compared with normal cervical tissues in DNA microarrays that contained approximately 11,000 features that correspond to either human transcripts with known function or anonymous expressed sequence tags.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed that normal cervical tissues were completely segregated from the cancer samples using about 40 genes whose expressions were significantly different between these specimens. In addition, clinical stage IB and stage IIB tumors could also be classified based on their signature expression patterns. Most importantly, some of the tumor samples were further stratified into two major groups based on their response to radiotherapy, and we were able to predict the response of these patients to radiotherapy from their expression profiles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gene expression profiling by DNA microarray may be used for further molecular classification of disease stages and prediction of treatment response in cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yick Fu
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Zachariah E
authors.initials: ZE
authors.lastname: Selvanayagam
authors.forename: Nien
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Ragini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vittal
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Joe Weichung
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Tak Hong
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Keith Wing Kit
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: So Fan
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: Shing Kai
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Danny Tse
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ngong
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Siu
authors.forename: Loucia Kit Ying
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Chun Sing
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kutlina
authors.forename: Randall D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: McKinnon
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Denhardt
authors.forename: Khew-Voon
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Tony Kwok Hung
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy