This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Lenz, H.-J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Lenz, H.-J. Related Articles Related Correspondence Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

In Reply

Division of Medical Oncology, University of Southern California/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA

The data by Pare et al confirming our results on MTHFR polymorphism are very critical to the identification of novel predictive and prognostic markers in patients with colon cancer. We applaud the efforts by Pare et al to test our findings in an independent patient cohort. These data suggest that there are potential sex-specific markers which may be predictive or prognostic in opposite ways in women versus men. We just published our data on epidermal growth factor polymorphisms which also have different prognostic outcomes in men versus women.¹ This makes sense biologically, as it has been known that HER1/HER2 are coregulated with estrogen receptors, which provides a link to sex-specific markers. Colon cancer may be very special because it has been shown that estrogen levels in premenopausal women protects them against colon cancer development and that hormone replacement therapy can reduce colon cancer risk in menopausal women. In addition, we have presented data showing polymorphisms in estrogen receptor β are associated with prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer, dependent on the sex.² Last year at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, we presented data outcome on fluorouracil, folinic acid, and oxaliplatin in second-line chemotherapy in 152 patients identifying for the first time different predictive markers for women than for men further supporting that molecular marker should be evaluated for men and women separately.³ In the past, markers were being adjusted for sex or other clinicalpathological prognostic factors but never analyzed independently. These findings strongly suggest that in colon cancer there may be a strong sex-specific molecular marker set associated with clinical outcome.

AUTHORS' DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Although all authors completed the disclosure declaration, the following author(s) indicated a financial or other interest that is relevant to the subject matter under consideration in this article. Certain relationships marked with a "U" are those for which no compensation was received; those relationships marked with a "C" were compensated. For a detailed description of the disclosure categories, or for more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to the Author Disclosure Declaration and the Disclosures of Potential Conflicts of Interest section in Information for Contributors.

Employment or Leadership Position: None Consultant or Advisory Role: Heinz-Josef Lenz, Chiron (C), Genentech (C), Response Genetics Inc (C) Stock Ownership: None Honoraria: Heinz-Josef Lenz, Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi Research Funding: None Expert Testimony: None Other Remuneration: None

REFERENCES

1. Press OA, Zhang W, Gordon MA, et al: Gender-related survival differences associated with EGFR polymorphisms in metastatic colon cancer. Cancer Res 68:3037-3042, 2008

2. Press OA, Zhang W, Yang DY, et al: Survival differences related to estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) polymorphism and age in female patients with metastatic colon cancer. J Clin Oncol 22:275s, 2004 (suppl; abstr 3618)

3. Gordon MA, Zhang W, Yang DY, et al: Use of sex-specific genomic profile to predict clinical outcome in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with 5- fluorouracil/oxaliplatin. J Clin Oncol 25:193s, 2007 (suppl; abstr 4122)

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related Correspondence

• Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Gene Polymorphisms: Genomic Predictors of Clinical Response to Fluoropyrimidine-Based Chemotherapy in Females
  Laia Paré, Juliana Salazar, Elisabeth del Rio, Montserrat Baiget, Albert Altés, Eugenio Marcuello, David Paez, and Agustí Barnadas
  JCO 2008 26: 3468 [Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Lenz, H.-J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Zhang, W. Articles by Lenz, H.-J. Related Articles Related Correspondence Social Bookmarking                            What's this?