Agendia, an innovative molecular cancer diagnostics company and leader in personalized medicine, today announced the publication in the November 21st issue of the prestigious scientific journal "Cell" of a study that identifies a gene signature that is associated with resistance to a broad range of cancer therapies in multiple cancer types.
The gene signature, discovered in collaboration with scientists from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, identifies a process that resembles the process of "Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition" (EMT) as a major determinant of response to both targeted cancer therapeutics and chemotherapeutics in a broad range of cancer types.
"We need to understand the mechanisms of drug resistance if we want to prevent resistance from occurring. Moreover, we have shown that blocking the EMT process with selective drugs restores sensitivity to the original drug, which suggests a way to treat patients that have undergone this type of drug resistance," says Rene Bernards, senior author of the study and Chief Scientific Officer at Agendia. The company is in discussions with several pharmaceutical companies to collaborate on the use of this gene signature in clinical studies.
"Our ongoing collaboration with the Netherlands Cancer Institute contributes significantly to Agendia's high-value offering of pharma services and new diagnostic tests," said David Macdonald, CEO of Agendia. "Agendia is committed to improving the effectiveness of cancer therapies by providing valuable biomarker tools to pharmaceutical companies and physicians."
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