Method of Predicting the Clinical Response to Chemotherapeutic Treatment with Alkylating Agents

Abstract

The present invention provides methods relating to chemotherapeutic treatment of a cell proliferative disorder. In particular, a method is provided for predicting the clinical response to certain types of chemotherapeutic agents. Alkylating agents, used for the treatment of certain types of tumors including tumors of the nervous system and lymph system, are efficacious agents when the damage they do to tumor cell DNA is not repaired by cellular DNA repair mechanisms. The present invention provides a method for determining the activity of a gene encoding a DNA repair enzyme, thus providing a prediction of the clinical response to alkylating agents.

1 . A kit, comprising:
 a primer pair that can amplify nucleic acid encoding a DNA repair enzyme, wherein the primer pair comprises at least one sense primer and at least one antisense primer that distinguish between methylated nucleic acid and unmethylated nucleic acid, and   an oligonucleotide probe that can selectively hybridize to an amplification product generated using the primer pair.   
     
     
         2 . The kit of  claim 1 , further comprising a detectable label. 
     
     
         3 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the oligonucleotide probe further comprises a detectable label. 
     
     
         4 . The kit of  claim 3 , wherein the detectable label comprises a radioisotope, a fluorescent compound, a bioluminescent compound, a chemiluminescent compound, a metal chelator, or an enzyme. 
     
     
         5 . The kit of  claim 3 , wherein the detectable label comprises a fluorescent compound. 
     
     
         6 . The kit of  claim 1 , further comprising a reagent that modifies unmethylated cytosine nucleotides. 
     
     
         7 . The kit of  claim 6 , wherein the reagent comprises bisulfite.