Genomic predictors of prostate cancer therapy outcomes

Although numerous attempts have been made to forecast outcomes for prostate cancer after therapy using clinical and histological variables, the ability to accurately predict an individual's response to a specific treatment remains elusive. Recently, major advances in the field of genomics have made possible the near-comprehensive assessment of the genetic status of tumor genomes, with major concentration on predicting an individual's response to a specific treatment. Genomic approaches to treatment response include, but are not limited to, detection of gene rearrangements, DNA copy-number aberrations, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, epigenetic changes and differential gene-expression patterns. These approaches have been used to predict response to treatment for local and systemic disease in multiple small cohorts. Further study with larger cohorts and longer follow-up should result in more concordance among genomic approaches, and will enable physicians to gain insight into the heterogeneity of supposedly 'similar' cancers and help tailor treatments accordingly.