Caris Life Sciences' Precision Oncology Alliance Publishes New Review of Molecular Testing in Cancer

IRVING, Texas, June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Caris Life Sciences^®, a leading innovator in molecular science focused on precision medicine, today announced the publication of a seminal paper by the Precision Oncology Alliance exploring the evolution of precision cancer care.  The paper, "The current state of molecular testing in the treatment of patients with solid tumors, 2019" was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. It reviews where precision medicine and molecular profiling are today, providing insight into current practice standards and a preview of where the field is heading.

"Precision medicine is evolving rapidly, and it can be challenging for clinicians to keep pace with the rate of discovery," said David Spetzler, MS, MBA, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caris. "A broad – and growing – array of DNA, RNA and proteins is informing how cancer is diagnosed and treated, providing new insights into how we can save lives. This paper by the Precision Oncology Alliance brings together the perspectives and knowledge of some of the brightest minds in cancer today to analyze where precision medicine is and where it is going. The review offers critical insight for physicians and will advance efforts to make precision medicine a reality for all people with cancer." 

In the paper, members of the Precision Oncology Alliance™, analyze the state of molecular profiling for metastatic solid tumors, highlighting the evolution of molecular profiling, sharing insights about how oncologists and pathologists can use biomarker information for cancer diagnosis and treatment, and offering a comprehensive listing of predictive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and treatments targeted for an individual's cancer. 

The authors review how advancing technologies have expanded molecular profiling from just DNA analysis to encompass genomics as well as analyses of RNA and proteins.  Authors also focus on predictive biomarkers used to diagnose cancer by tumor type rather than location, and how biomarker identification is guiding the development of new therapies.  They explore connections between and uses of biomarkers, including PD-1/PD-L1, MSI, TMB and HRD and review new biomarkers and their targeted therapies including: NTRK gene fusions and entrectinib; fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) and erdafitinib; MET oncogene and MET exon 14 mutation and crizotinib; mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and sapansiertib; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase gene (PIK3CA) and taselisib; cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) CDK4 and CDK6 and palbociclib; and DDR2 kinase gene and dasatibib.

"Scientific and technological advances are rapidly improving our understanding of cancer and allowing us to offer new and better treatment options for oncologists and their patients," said Wafik S. El-Deiry, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, Director of the Joint Program in Cancer Biology at Brown and the Lifespan Cancer Institute, and Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. "We can only fully leverage these advances to prolong the lives of those with cancer if we collaborate and share data and insights with others.  This is why organizations like the Precision Oncology Alliance that bring together physicians and scientists from institutions around the world are so important.  Through the power of collaboration, we can advance precision cancer care and save more lives more quickly."

The Precision Oncology Alliance™ is a collaborative network of leading cancer centers that is establishing evidence-based standards for tumor profiling and molecular testing in oncology and developing standards of care and best practices to make cancer treatment more precise and effective.  By leveraging the comprehensive genomic and proteomic tumor profiling services available through the Caris Molecular Intelligence^® platform, Precision Oncology Alliance members can prioritize therapeutic options and determine what clinical trial opportunities may benefit patients.

ADAPT Biotargeting System™ – Caris' versatile, unbiased profiling platform that combines circulating biomarkers, aptamers and next-generation sequencing (NGS) and can measure thousands of protein aberrations – is noted in the paper for the assay's utility to discover novel drug targets across cancer types.

The paper is authored by physician oncologists from Alliance members institutions – Brown University, West Virginia University Cancer Institute, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Levine Cancer Institute, Hoag Family Cancer Institute, Barrow Neurological Institute, as well as Texas Oncology.

About Caris Life Sciences

Caris Life Sciences® is a leading innovator in molecular science focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine through quality and innovation. The company's suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assess DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps physicians and cancer patients make more precise and personalized treatment decisions. Caris is also advancing precision medicine with Next Generation Profiling™ that combines its innovative service offerings, Caris Molecular Intelligence® and ADAPT Biotargeting System™, with its proprietary artificial intelligence analytics engine, DEAN™, to analyze the whole exome, whole transcriptome and complete cancer proteome. This information, coupled with mature clinical outcomes on thousands of patients, provides unmatched molecular solutions for patients, physicians, payers and biopharmaceutical organizations. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit www.CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on Twitter (@CarisLS).

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