Despite the significant improvement in therapeutic regimens, still remaining
are the unwanted side effects and/or sub-optimum efficacy associated with
different genetic background of each individual patient. This is mainly
due to administration or application of therapeutic drugs without taking
genetic differences of individual patients into consideration. “ The average
treatment for the average patient can’t possibly work all the time because
there are no average patients.” (By Robert A. Nagourney, M.D., The Wall
Street Journal)
The
need for diagnostics has been rapidly increasing that can identify
differences among individual patient at molecular and cellular level,
thus allowing selection of the best treatment.
Since 2001,
ISU ABXIS has been providing medical society with clinical lab services
to expedite progress of personalized medicine.
ISU ABXIS provides Chemotherapy Response Assay(CRA)
and Genetic Testing Services (GTS) to clinicians.
In vitro chemotherapy sensitivity assays (CRA) test whether a
sample of a patient’s tumor tissue shows response (i.e., reduced
tumor survival) when exposed to selected chemotherapy drugs under
laboratory conditions. Assay-directed chemotherapy is proposed as
an alternative to empiric therapy; i.e., selecting a chemotherapy
regimen based on characteristics that determine whether a patient
is likely to benefit from certain chemotherapeutic agents.
- Clinical validation: Conducting multi-center
clinical trials on four major cancer types provides ISU ABXIS
with unique position in CRA business.
-
Tests on small amount of samples: The samples obtained by bronchoscopy
or gastrofiberscopy usually yields small number
of cancer cells which often leads to inaccuracy or failed tests.
Many years of efforts have enabled us to accomplish
technical expertise which allows the tests with very small number
of cancer cells (~1,000 cells/well in a 96-well
plate) compared to other assays(~20,000 cells/well in a 96-well
plate).
- Seven days from taking biopsy to the test results:
We provide the test results within seven days of sample
collection.
Different genetic background among each individual accounts for
different different durg responses in certain cases. GTS provides
predictive information on patient’s response to specific drugs
to assist clinicians to select the best therapeutic regimen.
We
are currently providing GTS on Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor
(EGFR) and c-kit gene analysis which gives the predictive information
on the patients’ response to Iressa® and Glivec®, respectively.
Hereditary cancer, in most cases, is caused by predisposition
of the individuals by mutation in cancer-related genes. The following
services are available at ISU ABXIS to assist early diagnosis of
cancer.
- Microsatellite Instability Analysis (MSI): HNPCC
- MMR Gene Analysis: Follow-up test for those with MSI-High.
TMA is a slide containing various types of small tissues. By
providing every feature of the whole tissue sections, TMA saves
you time, money and labor associated with your research on target
identification and validation.
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