I-Corps: Precision Oncology Software

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project includes improvement of overall survival rates for colon cancer patients and reduction of healthcare costs. As more than 1.7 million Americans are being diagnosed with cancer each year, there is an urgent need for better prognostic tests for selection of the right therapy for the right patient. However, in colon cancer, current prognostic tests often fail to select the right treatment for a significant number of patients. This I-Corps project will develop a prognostic test, specifically for stage III colon cancer patients, that will more accurately choose the right treatment for newly diagnosed patients. The test will be a precision oncology software that analyzes genomic information from each patient's biopsy with a proprietary algorithm to predict response to each treatment option. The primary customer segment will be medical oncologists specializing in gastrointestinal tumors, who will use the test to choose the treatment that will be most beneficial to each patient and ultimately improve overall survival rates. Secondary customer segment will be insurance companies that will use the test to make value-based reimbursement decisions and to avoid costs associated with treatments that are not effective.This I-Corps project aims to further develop a prognostic colon cancer test. The test will analyze RNA sequencing data of stage III colon cancer patients to determine the expression levels of a proprietary set of genes that predict response to standard-of-care chemotherapies used for colon cancer. These genes were discovered in an innovative ex vivo cell culture system that conserve the biological properties of cancer cells and allow identification of novel biomarkers that show clinical significance. These novel biomarkers determine therapy response more accurately than known biomarkers. Retrospective analysis of 100 stage III colon cancer patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas Project database showed high expression of these genes in 80% of stage III colon cancer patients who also benefit significantly from chemotherapy. Conversely, the remaining 20% of patients, who do not benefit from chemotherapy, did not express these genes. Using the new prognostic test to stratify colon cancer patients to responder versus non-responder groups and administering the right treatment for each patient, increased 5-year survival rates.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.