Rosetta Genomics and UC Davis Researchers to Develop and Validate microRNA Biomarker to Predict Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Bladder Cancer

Rosetta Genomics ROSG announces it has entered into a collaboration with the University of California, Davis to develop and validate a microRNA profile for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MI-BC) that is predictive of patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The collaboration allows for UC Davis researchers to continue using Rosetta's platforms and microRNAs to further discover new biomarkers and validate their results. Researchers have initiated collaborations by studying 55 MI-BC patients treated at UC Davis Cancer Center with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The primary goal of this study is to develop and validate a microRNA profile of MI-BC that is predictive of patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. A secondary goal of the study is to understand the mechanism by which differentially expressed microRNAs mediate chemosensitivity. Approximately 30 percent of bladder cancer patients present with or will develop MI-BC, which has a five-year survival rate of approximately 50 percent. Evidence-based medicine has clearly demonstrated the survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (i.e., methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) for the treatment of this disease. However, only 50 percent of patients with MI-BC will respond to chemotherapy, which discourages widespread adoption. Instead of chemotherapy many of these patients are offered cystectomy (removal of bladder), a treatment option that has failed to improve survival rates meaningfully over the past 25 years.