NYU surgeon discusses microRNA and mesothelioma prognosis
Dr. Harvey Pass is a professor and the chief of thoracic surgery at New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center. He is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his research into biomarkers for mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Pass established a relationship with Rosetta Genomics, and he used their platform to look at microRNA specimens that he had access to through his work at NYU. He had background data about the specimens collected from the mesothelioma patients he had operated on, including when tumors occurred after surgery and when the patients died. He stated that most patients died within 12 months of receiving their mesothelioma diagnosis, but there were patients with a more indolent form of the cancer that allowed them to live for much longer. By examining the specimens from his patients, Pass was able to help identify the microRNA that was present in the patients who lived longer, miR-29c.
This discovery is important, Pass said, because the presence of this microRNA could help determine what course of mesothelioma treatment would be best for each patient. He hopes to develop a Clinical Laboratory Improved Amendments-Certified procedure in the future.
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