Methods for assessing cancer for increased sensitivity to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin

1. A method of selecting a patient for treatment of a cancer with 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a sample of the patient's cancer tissue;

(b) determining the expression level of a polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell comprising least one of reduced folate carrier-1 enzyme (RFC-1), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase (FPGS), thymidylate synthase (TS), γ-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH), and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFT) in the sample;

(c) comparing the determined expression level in the sample with a reference expression level for the polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell; and

(d) selecting the patient for treatment 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin where the comparison of the expression level in the sample of the polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell and the corresponding reference expression level indicate sensitivity of patient's cancer tissue to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient's cancer is a solid tumor or a lymphoma.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the solid tumor is selected from the group consisting of NSCLC, head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.

4. A method for assessing sensitivity of a patient's cancer to treatment with 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a sample of the patient's cancer tissue;

(b) determining the expression level of at least one member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell comprising least one of reduced folate carrier-1 enzyme (RFC-1), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase (FPGS), thymidylate synthase (TS), -glutamyl hydrolase (GGH), and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFT) expressed in the sample;

(c) comparing the determined expression level in the sample with a reference expression level for the polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell of a reference cancer to determine whether the expression level for the polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell in the sample is indicative of an expression level that predicts sensitivity to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin; and

(d) generating a report of the predicted sensitivity of the sample to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the reference cancer is a solid tumor or a lymphoma.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid tumor is selected from the group consisting of NSCLC, head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.

7. A method for assessing sensitivity of a cancer to treatment with 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin comprising the steps of

(a) obtaining a sample of the lymphoma;

(b) determining the amount of a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell comprising least one of reduced folate carrier-1 enzyme (RFC-1), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase (FPGS), thymidylate synthase (TS), γ-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH), and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyltransferase (GARFT) expressed by the sample wherein higher levels of expressed polypeptide comprising a member of a folate pathway polypeptide within a cell are indicative of sensitivity to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin; and

(c) generating a report of the predicted sensitivity of the sample to 10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin.