BioProspecting NB Inc. (BPNBI) and the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute (ACRI) have established a formal collaboration to develop an early diagnostic for ovarian cancer based on BPNBI's unique, proprietary cancer management platform. The research and development program is being carried out at the ACRI facility in Moncton and the BPNBI research facility in Sackville.
The unique fit between ACRI's work with cancer biomarkers and BPNBI's discoveries and development capabilities have allowed the two to move closer to an early diagnostic test for ovarian cancer. As there are no approved early diagnostics for this cancer, BPNBI believes it can fill this void.
The entry-level diagnostic is presently focused on a simple blood test to measure the amount of biomarker. Cancer tumours shed cells that circulate in the blood. Since the shed cells contain abundant biomarker, it can be detected. Such an increase in the amount of biomarker in a blood test would suggest to the clinician that further testing is in order.
"The novel biomarker that we are targeting is overproduced in ovarian, breast and prostate cancers, to name a few," says BPNBI's founder, Professor Jack Stewart. "By measuring the amount of the biomarker in biopsies, we are also able to obtain an indication of the severity of the cancer since the amount of biomarker increases as the cancer progresses." While not underestimating the broader range of cancers that can be targeted, BPNBI's initial focus is the management of patients with ovarian cancer.
BPNBI is also pursuing a novel approach to cancer management that not only includes diagnosis but treatment as well. In fact, the diagnostic application builds on the exciting preclinical work that has shown the therapeutic is effective at decreasing growth of human ovarian tumours in mice while producing no noticeable negative side effects.
Upon returning recently from Stockholm, Sweden, where the first international conference on this family of biomarkers was held, Stewart was surprised to be the only person presenting results on this specific member and its application to cancer diagnosis. "It made quite a splash with some of the global pharmaceutical industry attendees. What seemed to impress a number of them was that we had both the detection system and the treatment bundled together. We could determine which patient would be expected to respond positively to our therapeutic, and just as importantly, which patient who would not be expected to respond."