Jan 25th, 2018
An Epic Quest to Detect Cancer
At Epic Science in La Jolla, lab technician Taylor Kress prepares white blood cells so they can be imaged and analyzed. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Finding needles in a haystack is the life-and-death job of San Diego’s Epic Sciences. The needles are extremely rare cancer cells that hide among the millions of normal cells in the blood of cancer patients.
The privately held company uses a combination of imaging technology to detect abnormal cells in a blood sample, along with DNA sequencing of those abnormal cells for cancer. A spinoff of The Scripps Research Institute, Epic Sciences raised $40 million in venture funding in May to further develop its technology.
Epic’s tests can detect just a handful of abnormal cells among the millions on a slide, said Mark Landers, Epic’s vice president of translational research. The company takes about 10 milliliters, about two teaspoons, from a blood draw. Each test is performed on two slides, using 1 milliliter of blood.
Epic’s main test targets a difficult form of prostate cancer. It helps determine if patients should receive hormonal therapy or a more toxic chemotherapy. Prostate cancers are often driven by male hormones. Blocking them, a kind of chemical castration, inhibits growth. But prostate cancers tend to evolve resistance to hormone-blocking therapy and spread. These are known as metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancers.
Source: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/biotech/sd-me-epic-sciences-20171122-story.html
Oct 11th, 2016
Genomic Health Presents Robust Analytical Validation Study Results of Oncotype SEQ™ Liquid Biopsy Mutation Panel
Data Presented for First Time at ESMO 2016 Congress Highlight Company's Commitment to Delivering Rigorous, Clinically Actionable Liquid-based Tests for Late-stage Cancer Patients
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Genomic Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GHDX) today announced results from its successfully completed analytical validation study of Oncotype SEQ™ Liquid Select, which demonstrated that this liquid biopsy mutation panel is highly sensitive, specific and reproducible. To provide transparent and clinically meaningful performance standards, the analytical performance for Oncotype SEQ is reported on a per-sample basis rather than a per-DNA base measure. The data were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Source: http://newsroom.genomichealth.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=992975
Jueves, 04 agosto, 2016
El escuadrón chileno contra el cáncer
Chile no suele ser el epicentro de las investigaciones científicas. sin embargo, hay varios compatriotas que están en el radar internacional por sus aportes a la lucha contra la enfermedad que, anualmente, mata a 8,2 millones de personas y que cada año suma 14 millones de nuevos casos. “El principal problema del cáncer es que no sabemos lo que es”, resume uno de ellos.
Fuente: http://www.capital.cl/poder/2016/08/04/129631/el-escuadron-chileno-contra-el-cancer
27 abril de 2016
16º Biotech Tonic: “El caso de ThyroidPrint®, un test genético made in Chile que se apronta a su validación en EEUU”.
Junto a la Fundación Ciencia y Vida, GrupoBios, la Cámara de la Innovación Farmacéutica (CIF) y The Network Factory, se desarrollo un nuevo capítulo del Biotech Tonic. La cita tuvo lugar en el espacio de cowork JustPeople.
En esta oportunidad, nos acompañó Hernán González, Profesor Asociado de Cirugía del Departamento de Cirugía Oncológica de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile y fundador de la empresa GeneproDX, quien mediante la charla “El caso de ThyroidPrint®, un test genético made in Chile que se apronta a su validación en EEUU”, relató el camino que ha debido recorrer junto a su empresa en el desarrollo de un test genético, llamado ThyroidPrint®, que permite determinar con 98% de exactitud si un nódulo de la tiroides es cancerígeno o no.
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