A Novel Network Model for Molecular Prognosis

Network-based genome-wide association studies (NWAS) utilize the molecular interactions between genes and functional pathways in biomarker identification. This study presents a novel network-based methodology for identifying prognostic gene signatures to predict cancer recurrence. The methodology contains the following steps: 1) Constructing genome-wide coexpression networks for different disease states (metastatic vs. non-metastatic). Prediction logic is used to induct valid implication relations between each pair of gene expression profiles in terms of formal logic rules. 2) Identifying differential components associated with specific disease states from the genome-wide coexpression networks. 3) Dissecting network modules that are tightly connected with major disease signal hallmarks from the disease specific differential components. 4) Identifying most significant genes/probes associated with clinical outcome from the pathway connected network modules. Using this methodology, a 14-gene prognostic signature was identified for accurate patient stratification in early stage lung cancer.