Method for Prognosing and Diagnosing Tumors

Eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) are crucial in the initiation of protein translation. Protein biosynthesis can directly target the translation of specific mRNA and foster cell viability, invasion, formation of metastasis and tumor proliferation. Deregulated protein biosynthesis contributes to carcinogenesis and the progression of cancer.

eIFs have been described to be aberrantly expressed in various tumor entities, showing association with tumor development and cancer progression.

This patent covers methods for prognosing and diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and lymphoma. HCC is the most common type of primary liver cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Furthermore, hepatitis C and hepatitis B infection can induce HCC.

Lymphoma is a group of blood cell tumors that develop from lymphocytes. The diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is most frequent in adults, and 40% of patients are not cured due to the heterogeneity of the disease.

We investigated the relevance of eIFs in HCC and lymphoma and analyzed their prognostic properties. We showed the relationship between the aberrant expression of various eIFs and patient outcome. The established method includes the diagnosis of non-virus-related HCC, hepatitis C- and hepatitis B-associated HCC by determining the expression level of at least one eIF in patient samples.

Given the poor methods prognosing HCC available so far, we provide a better prognosis and diagnosis with eIF biomarkers for non-virus related and virus related HCCs.

By determining the expression levels of eIFs in lymphoma affected patients, a better prognosis for the patient and decision support for the treatment can be made. High-risk patients can be supervised after treatment to prevent a disease relapse.