Precision oncology company Lucence and the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) announced today a research collaboration to profile prostate cancer in Asian men with blood tests to achieve better treatment decisions.
The prospective study involves the use of liquid biopsies for profiling metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients at NCCS. Liquid biopsies are blood tests that help identify treatment options quickly and non-invasively for cancer patients. The test combines both circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor RNA (ctRNA) testing which aims to identify more treatment opportunities for metastatic prostate cancer patients.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men, after lung cancer. Approximately 20% of metastatic prostate cancer patients have genetic alterations that can be targeted by newer targeted therapies such as PARP inhibitors1,2. This study aims to better define the clinical utility of liquid biopsy for mCRPC patients in treatment decisions and therapy outcomes. The use of ctRNA in addition to ctDNA represents also a key advance in patient care over conventional ctDNA liquid biopsies, promising to highlight more actionable targets to benefit patient treatment decisions.
“We are very pleased to partner with NCCS, one of the world’s top cancer care centers, to seek better answers for metastatic prostate cancer patients in Asia. We believe that advancing cancer care needs both quick and comprehensive profiling to support clinical decisions, and combining ctDNA and ctRNA liquid biopsy will be an important part of that future,” said Dr Min-Han Tan, Founding CEO of Lucence.
“Liquid biopsies using RNA and DNA to profile prostate cancer in patients will enhance patient treatment options. We are excited to be at the stage of studying innovative ctDNA and ctRNA combination liquid biopsies which has promise to meaningfully improve prostate cancer care both in Asia and across the globe,” said Associate Professor Ravindran Kanesvaran, Deputy Chairman, Division of Medical Oncology, NCCS and senior investigator of this study.
About Lucence
Lucence is a precision oncology company committed to bringing clarity to cancer care. Lucence makes ultrasensitive liquid biopsy tests to provide doctors and their patients life-changing information to enable earlier detection and effective treatment. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Lucence supplies personalized cancer care services through twin CLIA-licensed laboratories in the United States and Singapore. For more information, visit www.lucence.com.
About LiquidHALLMARK ctDNA and ctRNA
LiquidHALLMARK ctDNA and ctRNA panel combines ctRNA profiling of 27 actionable and emerging fusions with ctDNA profiling of mutations in 80 genes, fusions in 10 genes, and somatic variants in 15 cancer types. LiquidHALLMARK is powered by AmpliMark, the Company’s proprietary amplicon-based sequencing technology, which uses a unique molecular barcode and error-correction technology to ensure test sensitivity across multiple mutation types for single nucleotide variants and fusion genes.
References
- Robinson, D. et al. Integrative clinical genomics of advanced prostate cancer. Cell 161,1215–1228 (2015).
- Mateo, J. et al. DNA-Repair Defects and Olaparib in Metastatic Prostate Cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 373, 1697–1708 (2015).