Translation of microarray data into clinically relevant cancer diagnostic tests using gene expression ratios in lung cancer and mesothelioma.

The pathological distinction between malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM)and adenocarcinoma (ADCA) of the lung can be cumbersome using established methods. We propose that a simple technique, based on the expression levels of a small number of genes, can be useful in the early and accurate diagnosis of MPM and lung cancer. This method is designed to accurately distinguish between genetically disparate tissues using gene expression ratios and rationally chosen thresholds. Here we have tested the fidelity of ratio-based diagnosis in differentiating between MPM and lung cancer in 181 tissue samples (31 MPM and 150 ADCA). A training set of 32 samples (16 MPM and 16 ADCA) was used to identify pairs of genes with…