• R&D
  • > Biomarker validation

Home > Oncology > R&D

R&D

The search for biomarkers predicting response to targeted therapies has become a major issue in the care of patients suffering from cancer. It is an objective supported by IntegraGen.

• The development of biological decision-support tools for the oncologist is therefore paramount in optimising management of the conduct of treatment.
• The validation phases for innovative biomarkers in the cancer field are crucial and require large cohorts of patients.
• Supported by validation, the objective of these tests is to make it possible for clinical oncologists to improve patient care and for them to be included in standard protocols.

Two particularly important biomarkers have already been identified in the indications of hepatocellular carcinomas (liver tumours) and metastatic cancers of the colon.

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent malignant primary tumour of the liver.
  
  • It is the cause of 549,000 deaths per year worldwide and is the 3rd cause of death by cancer.
  • Therapeutic possibilities are currently limited to a minority of patients (20%) with small hepatocellular carcinomas (< 5 cm) in limited numbers (< 3).
  • These patients have a survival rate of 73% at 5 years without relapse.

• Medicinal treatments are currently being developed to treat hepatocellular carcinomas.
  
  • A recent study proves the efficacy of biotherapy.

• The search for genetic factors and biomarkers responding to these therapies is a key element in assessing their efficacy.
  
  • A study of the expression profile of 16,000 genes led to making the correlation of genetic changes with tumour characteristics more accurate.
  • This study makes it possible to improve definition of the sub-groups of patients with tumour types associated with different prognoses and therefore better orient surgical or medicinal treatments.

• In France, the annual number of new cases of colorectal cancer was estimated at 36,000, which places this cancer in 3rd position.
  • The number of metastatic colorectal cancers in France amounts to approximately 20,000 cases per year.
  • The role of KRAS mutation as a resistance factor with respect to anti-EGFR antibodies in the treatment of colorectal cancer has been identified and validated by an INSERM team.
  • The existing test makes it possible to predict “non-response to a treatment” with a specificity of 95% but a sensitivity of only 40 to 50%.
• For patients with non-KRAS mutated tumours, the current objective is to identify and validate markers predicting "response to treatment."

For these two projects, IntegraGen is an integral part of the process dedicated to validating biomarkers and making the test available to clinical practitioners and patients.