SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitae (NYSE:
NVTA), University College London (UCL), and the Francis Crick
Institute today announced new data from their TRACERx lung cancer
research collaboration funded by Cancer Research UK and sponsored
by UCL. The data, presented by Professor Charles Swanton of UCL and the Francis Crick
Institute at the International Society of Liquid Biopsy (ISLB)
Congress, further validate the value of liquid biopsy as a
less invasive and more comprehensive approach to guiding
personalized cancer treatment in the absence of detectable disease
by clinical imaging. Previously reported findings from the TRACERx
cohort found that monitoring for cancer circulating tumor DNA
(ctDNA) based minimal residual disease (MRD) detected relapse of
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) up to three years earlier than
standard of care imaging surveillance in some
instances.1
The study used a new blood-based informatic tool called ECLIPSE
(Extraction of CLonality from LIquid bioPSiEs) with an earlier
iteration of the Invitae Personalized Cancer Monitoring (PCM™)
liquid biopsy assay to analyze plasma samples of patients in the
TRACERx study. With this approach, data demonstrated
multiplex-anchored PCR sequencing of the plasma samples enhanced
MRD lead times relative to standard of care surveillance scanning
and allowed holistic sampling of clonal dynamics, or tumor
heterogeneity, with prognostic implications for disease
progression.
"Tumours are highly heterogeneous and standard biopsies can miss
important tumor traits. Our findings from applying our novel
ECLIPSE software with Invitae's multiplex-anchored PCR technology,
which powers the Invitae PCM assay, are promising. They underscore
the tremendous potential of PCM for providing representative tumor
sampling throughout the disease course, and most importantly at an
early stage or at early recurrence in the absence of disease on
standard imaging, which may in the future inform clinical trial
stratification and the best treatment plans for patients," said
Professor Charles Swanton, Cancer
Research UK's Chief Clinician and a 2021 ISLB award recipient for
outstanding scientific contribution in liquid biopsy. "Better
understanding the true pathology of a patient's tumor, including
driver and passenger clonal mutations, and identifying MRD earlier,
are key to unlocking personalized cancer care and changing the
paradigm of cancer drug development towards earlier intervention in
the adjuvant setting where cures are more readily achievable."
Invitae's PCM is a pan-cancer, tumor-informed liquid biopsy
assay that uses next-generation sequencing powered by Anchored
Multiplex PCR (AMP™) to monitor MRD with high sensitivity at low
variant allele fractions. The service employs a combination of a
tumor profile, blood tests and personalized assays based on a
patient's tumor with the goal of earlier detection of cancer
recurrence through ctDNA before it is detectable by imaging or
other conventional methods. ECLIPSE, developed by the Cancer
Research UK TRACERx team at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute,
uses a standardized algorithm that helps resolve tumor tissue-based
sample bias. Coupling Invitae's PCM assay with ECLIPSE, the
researchers analyzed 972 longitudinal plasma samples from 136 TNM
I-III NSCLC patients in TRACERx who had undergone multiregion whole
exome sequencing of primary tumor and relapse tissue and had 364
surveillance scans. Seventy-five of these patients experienced a
recurrence of their surgically resected disease.
The researchers concluded that multiplex-anchored PCR with
trinucleotide specific background models improves NSCLC
relapse detection compared to standard of care clinical follow
up. Using ECLIPSE, plasma samples of less than 1% purity can be
used to accurately profile the clonal structure of tumors at
diagnosis, during treatment and at relapse, which impacts patient
outcome and has the potential to guide personalized
medicine.
"Determining the best treatment plan for a cancer patient
depends on several factors, including the results of current
disease monitoring. Unfortunately, traditional monitoring methods
such as imaging and tissue biopsy are insensitive when it comes to
adequately representing a tumor or detecting relapse early in a
patient's treatment cycle," said Robert Nussbaum, M.D., chief
medical officer of Invitae. "These findings further validate the
role of PCM in determining a therapy's effectiveness and
identifying relapses more quickly, both of which are essential to
optimizing personalized treatment plans."
PCM and other liquid biopsy approaches for monitoring MRD have
the potential to become a mainstay in personalized oncology. PCM
could be applied in a variety of ways to help improve patient care
and prolong survival outcomes, including monitoring for recurrence,
monitoring a patient's response to therapy to inform treatment
decisions, and improving clinical trial designs to help get new
therapies to market sooner.
About TRACERx Study
TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx)) lung
study is the single biggest investment in lung cancer research by
Cancer Research UK. Taking place over nine years, we believe the
translational research programme is the first study to look at the
evolution of cancer in real time and immense detail. Researchers
follow patients with lung cancer all the way from diagnosis through
to either disease relapse or cure after surgery, tracking and
analysing how their cancer develops. TRACERx is led by UCL
(University College London) via the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer
Centre of Excellence and also supported by the National Institute
for Health Research, University College London Hospitals Biomedical
Research Centre, Francis Crick Institute and the Rosetrees
Trust.
About Cancer Research UK
- Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity
dedicated to saving lives through research.
- Cancer Research UK's pioneering work into the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of
lives.
- Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that
has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40
years.
- Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10
years. Cancer Research UK's ambition is to accelerate progress so
that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least
10 years.
- Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer
through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and
nurses.
- Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's
vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are
cured.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to
find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or
visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on
Twitter and Facebook.
About UCL (University College London) – London's Global University
UCL is a diverse community with the freedom to challenge and
think differently. Our community of more than 41,500 students from
150 countries and over 12,500 staff pursues academic excellence,
breaks boundaries and makes a positive impact on real world
problems. We are consistently ranked among the top 10 universities
in the world and are one of only a handful of institutions rated as
having the strongest academic reputation and the broadest research
impact. We have a progressive and integrated approach to our
teaching and research – championing innovation, creativity and
cross-disciplinary working. We teach our students how to think, not
what to think, and see them as partners, collaborators and
contributors. For almost 200 years, we are proud to have opened
higher education to students from a wide range of backgrounds and
to change the way we create and share knowledge. We were the first
in England to welcome women to
university education and that courageous attitude and disruptive
spirit is still alive today. We are UCL.
About The Francis Crick Institute
The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute
dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying
health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease
develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent,
diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke,
infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.
An independent organisation, its founding partners are the
Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL
(University College London), Imperial College London and King's
College London.
The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand
new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists
and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines,
making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single
roof in Europe. http://crick.ac.uk/
About Invitae
Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) is a leading medical genetics
company, whose mission is to bring comprehensive genetic
information into mainstream medicine to improve healthcare for
billions of people. Invitae's goal is to aggregate the world's
genetic tests into a single service with higher quality, faster
turnaround time, and lower prices. For more information, visit the
company's website at invitae.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements relating to the study results and
implications thereof; the company's beliefs regarding the study,
including that it highlights the promise of personalized care and
further validates the value of liquid biopsy and the potential
benefits of the company's PCM assay; and statements relating to the
potential applications of PCM. Forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered
as an indication of future performance. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the company's
history of losses; the company's ability to compete; the company's
failure to manage growth effectively; the company's need to scale
its infrastructure in advance of demand for its tests and to
increase demand for its tests; the company's ability to use rapidly
changing genetic data to interpret test results accurately and
consistently; security breaches, loss of data and other
disruptions; laws and regulations applicable to the company's
business; regulatory approval and market acceptance of PCM; and the
other risks set forth in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the
company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
June 30, 2021. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Invitae
Corporation disclaims any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
Contact:
pr@invitae.com
(628) 213-3283
1 Abbosh Chris et al, Abstract CT023:
Phylogenetic tracking and minimal residual disease detection using
ctDNA in early-stage NSCLC: A lung TRACERx study. Cancer Res
August 15 2020 (80) (16 Supplement)
CT023; DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2020-CT023
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