Genomic Testing to be Harnessed for Precision Medicine in Oncology

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Pune 14th September, 2015: With the genomic profile of each cancer patient being unique, oncologists are faced with the challenging task of deciding a therapy that works best for them.Keeping this in mind, Strand Life Sciences, a global genomic profiling company that uses next generation sequencing technology to empower personalized cancer care, in association with the Pune Oncology Group,  organized a program on ‘Precision Medicine in Oncology’ today at Courtyard by Marriott Pune.  Precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention, with the possibility of providing the right patient with the right drug at the right time.

Dr. Shona Nag and Dr. Sachin Hingmire, leading medical oncologists in Pune were key speakers at the program. Dr. Nag highlighted the importance of precision medicine in cancer treatment. Speaking on the topic, Dr. Nag, said, “Today oncologists can derive more effective treatment strategies that are tailored to the genomic profile of each patient’s tumor. Precision Medicine is the need of the hour in treating several types of cancers. Thus, a cancer tissue-specific genomic profiling service that provides oncologists with clinically actionable and timely results for first-line therapy decisions is a great plus.”

“Advanced genomic testing and genetic profiling today enables us to identify cancer causing mutations, thus helping in selection and use of targeted therapies, enabling early intervention and effective treatment,” said Dr. Sudhir Borgonha, Senior VP and Medical Director, Strand Life Sciences, Bangalore.

“StrandAdvantage, an advanced genomic test from Strand Life Sciences, accelerates the analysis of therapeutically actionable cancer genes in solid tumors, and matches them to relevant National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recommended cancer therapies, enabling timely decisions for patient-specific treatments,” he added.

Highlighting the benefits of StrandAdvantage, Dr. Kas Subramanian, Chief Scientific Officer, Strand Life Sciences, Bangalore, said, “StrandAdvantage provides oncologists with clinically actionable tissue-specific results for non-small cell lung (NSCLC), breast, and colon carcinomas in a standard-of-care report within 10 working days. Strand’s NGS-based genomic profiling service provides a comprehensive view of genomic changes in an easy-to-read report enabling oncologists to make optimised, first-line treatment decisions. The service also provides an extended investigational ‘on-demand’ report after 15 days for cases that require a complete workup of all major gene variants and pathways known to be impacted by existing targeted therapies.”

Cancer is a disease affected by multiple variations within genes. Information from single gene tests is often limited and oncologists increasingly want greater depth of information about patients’ tumors. StrandAdvantage tests all the relevant genes upfront, thereby helping the oncologist select a targeted therapy for first-line or subsequent treatment, he added.

The program served as an ideal platform to create awareness, and engage the Pune Oncology Group in a healthy discussion about the importance of genetic testing for identifying the risk for hereditary cancer. The group held round table discussions to understand case histories on metastatic breast tumors, colon, and hereditary breast cancer, to evaluate the clinical utility of genomic testing, its implication in personalized therapy selection, and cancer risk assessment.

About Strand Life Sciences

 A History of Innovative Genomic Research

Strand Life Sciences is a global genomic profiling company aimed at empowering cancer care and genetic testing for inherited diseases. Strand works with oncologists, pathologists, and community hospitals to enable faster clinical decision support for accurate molecular diagnosis, prognosis, therapy recommendations, and clinical trials. Strand’s central reference laboratories are located in Bangalore, India and Colorado, USA.

For more information, please visit www.strandls.com.