Validation of a microRNA signature prognostic of metastasis in soft-tissue sarcomas

Soft tissue sarcoma is a disease that affects patients of all ages and have profound societal impact. On average 17 life years per patients are lost due to sarcoma, which is 2-3 times more than bowel, lung, prostate or breast cancer. Patients with soft-tissue sarcoma represents one the top 5 most important cancer cause of average percent lifespan lost. Patient die of this cancer from distant metastasis. There are currently no method to determine who may benefit from chemotherapy to reduce the chance of developing metastasis. Using patient biopsy tumor samples, we had previously developed and validated a biological signature that can predict a patient’s risk of developing metastasis. For this signature to be used in clinics, it needs to be validated using samples from other sources and from different sarcomas. This project will assess the signature’s accuracy using sarcoma samples obtained from 4 different academic centers in Canada and US. At the completion of the study, we will know whether this biological signature can be used as a clinical tool to select certain patients to receive aggressive chemotherapy to reduce their risk of developing and dying of sarcoma metastasis.

Faculty Supervisor:

Thomas Gervais

Student:

Bishnubrata Patra

Partner:

Institut du cancer de Montréal

Discipline:

Engineering - biomedical

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Polytechnique Montréal