A genomics awareness study from Outcomes4Me Inc. and Foundation Medicine Inc. reveals breast cancer patients are not offered genomic testing.
Genomic testing allows doctors to learn more about a tumor’s individual characteristics and ultimately provide the patient with more personalized treatment options.” said Osama Rahma, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Advisor of Outcomes4Me. “Test results can also expand patient access and eligibility for new and innovative treatments including clinical trials, and have been proven to help prolong a patient’s life. Although Medicare and most healthcare insurance companies cover 100% of the costs associated with genomic profile testing, the data shows that most advanced breast cancer patients don’t get their tumor profiled.”
The Outcomes4Me survey, which was conducted with more than 200 breast cancer patients over a period of two months, found that only 28% of advanced or metastatic breast cancer patients (Stage III or Stage IV) have had a genomic test, and only 50% of those patients that were not tested were at least somewhat aware or familiar with genomic testing. The level of awareness was significantly lower for those patients treated at community centers versus academic centers. Further, 88% of patients that were not tested said they were interested in genomic testing, while 85% said they were likely to ask their doctor about getting genomic testing, only after learning about Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP).
The research was presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), on December 9th, 2020.
Emulate, a leading provider of advanced in vitro models, announced that its Alveolus Lung-Chip is being used by the U.S. Army to understand how the SARS-CoV-2 virus interacts with lung cells. With funding from the FY20 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center are using Emulate Lung-Chips to observe intracellular interactions and better understand the role of proteins within lung cells on disease processes.
Emulate Lung-Chip models recreate key aspects of pulmonary physiology by incorporating multiple primary cell types in distinct epithelial and vascular channels in a lung-specific dynamic microenvironment which can mimic tissue-to-tissue interactions, extracellular matrix, immune cell components and mechanical forces. They are ideal for studies looking at viral infection and pathogenesis and efficacy testing.
The Alveolus Lung-Chip combines primary human alveolar epithelial cells with primary human microvascular lung endothelial cells. Cells are seeded onto the chips which have been coated with extracellular matrix. A mechanical strain is applied and then air is introduced into the epithelial cell channel. This creates a unique microenvironment which maintains phenotype and functionality of the endothelial and epithelial cells enabling scientists to develop more representative understandings of disease processes and drug responses. These characteristics make it an ideal model for studying the underlying mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection.
The Lung-Chip is part of a complete Human Emulation System® from Emulate. To read more, click here.
Atropos Health has launched following a seed funding round earlier this Fall. It has developed a product that leverages electronic medical record (EMR) data to provide physicians Real World Evidence tailored to the patient or clinical question they are treating. The company’s technology, licensed from Stanford Medicine, is based on the Green Button project. Click here to read more.
