PrecisionMed Inc. Announces Oncology Program
Patient Registry Will Facilitate Research Into Cell-Free Circulating Tumor DNA as a Biomarker
Solana Beach, CA
10.12.2016
PrecisionMed Inc. today announced enrollment of the first 100 breast cancer donors into a patient registry designed to facilitate research into cell-free circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker in the diagnosis and treatment of solid tumors. In this collection, prospectively consented paired samples consisting of tumor material and plasma containing tumor ctDNA are collected from cancer patients. These samples, with accompanying audited 5-year clinical follow-up, are then made available to researchers. Ongoing projects include breast and lung cancer, while colorectal and prostate cancers are being added.
When tumor cells die they release DNA into the bloodstream. This ctDNA can be isolated from blood plasma and sequenced. Current approaches to tumor acquisition for diagnosis and tumor characterization are invasive and may be unsuccessful in obtaining usable material. In addition, tumor heterogeneity may be missed.
This multicenter US protocol will enroll up to 5000 donors. All donors will be recruited, evaluated, clinically studied, and sampled in the United States. Key aspects of donors’ clinical status will be evaluated yearly with additional simultaneous biological sampling when possible.
“PrecisionMed develops cohorts of individuals for in-depth, longitudinal clinical and biological evaluation,” said John Flax, M.D., President and CEO of PrecisionMed. He continued, saying, “This sample collection is likely to facilitate significant advances in cancer care, potentially improving cancer diagnostics and outcome monitoring by providing better information utilizing safer and less expensive testing.”
About PrecisionMed Inc.
PrecisionMed Inc. was founded in 1994 and is a privately held human biobank in the San Diego, California, area. Their sample bank is a repository of human CSF, blood, DNA, RNA, PBMC, serum, plasma, urine and solid tissue from normal and diseased populations including cancer and neurodegenerative disease. The material is linked to detailed de-identified audited clinical data. Samples are available to the researchers to enhance drug discovery and development, therapeutic target validation and molecular diagnostic product development. PrecisionMed is the world’s only supplier of CSF from TruNormal® donors. Their collections are expanding to include additional neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, cancers and other diseases. Customers can find custom sample collections in any disease area as well as custom CSF collections, and all sample collections are performed in the United States.