- The new company, led by a former executive from Foundation
Medicine and Gritstone bio, is using advances in T-cell receptor
repertoire analysis to reveal previously undetectable signals in
standard liquid biopsy samples.
- Data to be presented at AACR shows that this complementary
approach may enhance existing liquid biopsy methods.
NEWTON, Mass., March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Serum Detect, a
cancer diagnostics company, is debuting a novel and promising
approach for cancer early detection at the upcoming American
Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference. The company is
developing diagnostic tests, using standard liquid biopsy samples,
that complement and enhance existing screening techniques for early
detection of cancer.
"Detecting cancer early, before it has spread throughout the
body, remains the primary way to achieve cancer cures. Too often
the diagnosis is late, limiting treatment options and increasing
mortality. The development of novel, practical, and cost-effective
technologies to save lives by detecting cancer early is a critical
priority in biomedical research and Serum's goal," said
Roman Yelensky, PhD, Serum Detect's
founder and CEO.
Liquid biopsy, or the assessment of cancer through standard
blood draws, is an important potential tool for cancer early
detection. Existing approaches for liquid biopsy primarily detect
tumor shed analytes such as circulating tumor DNA. These methods
have achieved breakthroughs in finding recurring cancer and later
stage disease, but often fail to detect earlier stage disease, when
the concentration of target analytes is low. In pursuit of broader
detection capabilities, researchers have explored if the immune
response against cancer may offer a complementary and more abundant
molecular target for screening. However, this research has not yet
been developed into practical assays that are compatible with and
can improve existing clinical liquid biopsy tools.
Serum Detect was founded to address this challenge. The
company's technology is based on novel computational techniques
pioneered by co-founder Bo Li, Ph.D.
at the University of Texas
Southwestern. By advancing scalable algorithms for T-cell receptor
(TCR) clustering and statistical association testing in large TCR
repertoire databases, Li demonstrated the potential to identify
groups of similar TCRs that recognize the same antigens as part of
related immune responses. Serum Detect has shown that these TCR
repertoire functional units (or RFUs) can be associated with the
presence of cancer and is developing diagnostics to detect RFUs
linked to a cancer-specific immune response. These TCR RFUs
aggregate signal across T-cells with similar TCR sequences, which
may make them a more sensitive indicator of disease earlier in its
progression.
Further, TCR repertoire functional units can be analyzed using
the buffy coat, which is a residual fraction of a standard liquid
biopsy blood draw. The use of existing, remaining liquid biopsy
materials make Serum Detect's technology a compelling complementary
and orthogonal method to current approaches, potentially enhancing
detection capabilities for early-stage cancer. The company is
currently pursuing partnering opportunities to complement existing
ctDNA tests, as well as planning development of diagnostic test
products in-house.
Serum Detect's founding team has deep sector expertise. CEO
Roman Yelensky, Ph.D. was an early
member of the leadership teams at both Foundation Medicine and
Gritstone bio, bringing a wealth of experience in developing cancer
genomics technologies and diagnostics. Co-founder Bo Li, Ph.D. is currently an Associate Professor
at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of
Pennsylvania. At the University of
Texas Southwestern and the University
of Pennsylvania, the Li lab has developed a suite of
computational methods designed to identify cancer-related signals
within the TCR repertoire.
AACR Presentation
In a poster presentation at the 2024 American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, April
5-10, 2024, the company will, for the first time, present
results demonstrating the additive value of TCR repertoire
functional unit analysis for cancer early detection liquid biopsy.
The data to be presented demonstrate detection of a significant
fraction of early lung cancer cases from blood by analyzing the
circulating TCR repertoire and show that this signal is
complementary to established analytes such as ctDNA. Full abstract
information is available online.
Poster presentation details:
|
Poster
Title:
|
Circulating T cell
receptor repertoire analysis improves cancer early
detection
|
|
Presentation
Number:
|
2295
|
|
Presenters:
|
Yilong Li, PhD;
Michelle Nahas, PhD; Roman Yelensky, PhD
|
|
Session
Title:
|
Liquid Biopsy and
Precision Oncology
|
|
Session Date and
Time:
|
Monday, Apr 8, 2024,
9:00am - 12:30pm
|
|
Location:
|
Poster Section 36;
Poster Board Number 6
|
About Serum Detect
Serum Detect is a cancer diagnostics company focused on
advancing new technologies for the early detection of cancer to
improve outcomes for patients. The company is pioneering new
analysis techniques to detect subtle signals of immune response to
early cancer, using standard liquid biopsy samples. For more
information about Serum Detect and its technology, please visit
www.serumdetect.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.
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SOURCE Serum Detect Inc.