PLOS ONE journal releases report on validation of Falcon Genomics' Cancer BioChip System

The online journal PLOS ONE released a scientific report on the validation of Falcon Genomics' Cancer BioChip System (CBCS) as a tool for identifying inhibitors of breast cancer.

The PLOS ONE article titled: "Validation of the Cancer BioChip System as a 3D siRNA Screening Tool for Breast Cancer Targets" reported unique and selective suppression of 3D breast cancer tumor cell growth by targeting specific genes on the CBCS.

The Lead Investigator, Dr. Rula Abbud - Antaki, proposes that "…the CBCS is being developed as a in-vitro surrogate for identifying effective patient-specific therapies for breast cancer." The active agents tested in these papers consisted of silencing RNA (siRNA). Also known as small-interfering RNA, siRNA plays many roles, but its most notable is its ability to interfere with the expression of specific genes – such as those responsible for cancer. According to Abbud - Antaki, "silencing RNA is a very potent tool in the fight against cancer. It can be designed to target any and every gene in the human genome."

The CBCS was previously described in a June 15, 2012 article published by the journal Hormones and Cancer. This article defines the Cancer BioChip System as a "Functional Genomic Assay for Anchorage-Independent Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Cell Growth." While there are other siRNA screening platforms, the CBCS is unique because it has higher clinical translatability through its patented 3-D culture technology. (US Patents 7,537,913 and 8,110,375).

Falcon Genomics, Inc. currently offers the CBCS as a service for high-throughput 3D siRNA screening. According to the authors, the CBCS will greatly reduce the attrition rate of cancer drug discovery leads. All drug screening tests use cell lines growing on flat surfaces, which resulted in many targets that never made it into the clinic. By testing the patient's own tumor cells in a 3D anchorage-independent in vitro setting, Falcon Genomics' CBCS can identify targets that have a high likelihood of clinical success, and may be overlooked by existing tests. Falcon Genomics, Inc. also envisions the CBCS as a personalized diagnostic test, whereby every patient tumor will be diagnosed based on its sensitivity to targeted therapy. Dr. Abbud - Antaki says, "This will greatly improve the success rate of breast cancer treatments."