Methods of using epha2 for predicting activity of compounds that interact with and/or modulate protein tyrosine kinases and/or protein tyrosine kinase pathways in breast cells

Abstract

The present invention describes polynucleotides that have been discovered to correlate to the relative sensitivity or resistance of cells, e.g., breast cell lines, to treatment with compounds that interact with and modulate, e.g., inhibit, protein tyrosine kinases, such as, for example, members of the Src family of tyrosine kinases, e.g., Src, Fgr, Fyn, Yes, Blk, Hck, Lck and Lyn, as well as other protein tyrosine kinases, including, Bcr-abl, Jak, PDGFR, c-kit and Eph receptors. These polynucleotides have been shown to have utility in predicting the resistance and sensitivity of breast cell lines to the compounds. Such polynucleotides comprise polynucleotide predictor or marker sets useful in methods of predicting drug response, and as prognostic or diagnostic indicators in disease management, particularly in those disease areas, e.g., breast cancer, in which signaling through one or more of the aforementioned Src tyrosine and protein tyrosine kinases is involved with the disease process.