Date: Jan 30, 2014 Author: press release Source: Company Data (
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Westlake Village, Calif., January 30, 2014 -- Cynvenio, a cancer diagnostics company focused on transforming cancer treatment through the genomic analysis of tumor cells in the bloodstream, today announced the publication of new data demonstrating that the company's automated LiquidBiopsy platform consistently produces samples with the higher purity needed for molecular analysis, including next generation sequencing. This capability provides a valuable clinical tool to help physicians build evidence-based, individualized treatment plans that can improve patient outcomes.
To date, tissue biopsies have been the only source of molecular information about a patient's cancer. However, biopsies are invasive and do not always result in sufficient tissue for molecular analysis. Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are a known alternative source of tumor cells but up until now, no technology has been able to recover these cells sufficiently to enable reliable molecular access. The rapid progress of next generation sequencing coupled with the preparative capability of the LiquidBiopsy platform has provided a powerful methodology to monitor tumor cells in patients.
"This paper is not simply another manuscript describing a novel CTC method but the report of a carefully planned technological development with the vision of improving patients' care" commented Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., Director, Jefferson Breast Care Center at the Kimmel Cancer Center and Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals. "The discovery of the prognostic value of CTC enumeration in advanced malignancies clearly indicated that using peripheral blood of cancer patients is not only informative of outcome but it is a much more solid representation of the disease complexity than any other models used in the lab."
The data are published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. Molecular analysis of tumor cells from blood demands that tumor cells are reliably and reproducibly recovered from a blood sample. For sequence analysis of blood-derived tumor cells, the distinguishing feature of the LiquidBiopsy technology is its efficient exclusion of greater than 99.99% of the normal cells in blood. The PLOS ONE report describes how this unique performance solves the significant technical challenge of recovering genomic DNA from extremely rare cells for downstream molecular readouts such as PCR or next generation sequencing. Careful validation of performance is critical for the analytical challenges of patient sample preparation and forms the technical backbone for the ClearID test available from Cynvenio Biosystems.
About the Study
The study by Winer-Jones et al., "Circulating Tumor Cells: Clinically Relevant Molecular Access Based on a Novel CTC Flow Cell"; PLOS ONE, Jan 29, 2014, describes the validation of a high throughput CTC flow cell and the associated automated LiquidBiopsy platform and protocols that enable the rapid and robust recovery of CTCs in a manner that allows direct molecular analysis. It is available online at http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086717.
About Cynvenio Biosystems, Inc.
Cynvenio is a cancer diagnostics company focused on transforming cancer treatment through the molecular analysis of tumor biomarkers in the bloodstream. This expertise has resulted in two distinct product offerings: ClearID Breast Cancer molecular testing program and LiquidBiopsy. ClearID Breast Cancer assesses 50 oncogenes for more than 4,500 genetic mutations using next-generation sequencing. This test and real-time molecular analysis provide actionable information that can inform treatment considerations and help improve treatment outcomes. LiquidBiopsy is designed for industry and academic researchers to identify the presence of tumor-cell genetic mutations in whole blood. Founded in 2008, Cynvenio is headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif. (Los Angeles). For more information visit http://www.cynvenio.com.
LiquidBiopsy® is a registered trademark of Cynvenio Biosystems, Inc.
About PLOS One
PLOS is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information about PLOS, visit www.plos.org.
