CorrectChemo Measures Cancer’s Response to Therapeutic Agents
While the patented technology might be complex, the premise behind it is straightforward … not every chemotherapy agent is equal in every patient.
CorrectChemo® offered by Franklin-based DiaTech Oncology is a predictive drug response profiling test that helps providers personalize cancer treatment by ranking which chemotherapy agents, individually or in combination, are most effective in fighting a specific patient’s cancer. Robert E. Henry, president and CEO of DiaTech Oncology, said, “The test tracks apoptosis (cell death) to provide oncologists with additional data to help inform decisions about the best way to move forward for a patient.”
How it Works
A sample from a biopsy of a solid tumor or fluid from a blood cancer is sent to the DiaTech lab within 24 hours of collection for the CorrectChemo test (also known as Microculture-Kinetic or MiCK) to be performed.
“That tissue has to remain alive in order for us to run the test,” Henry said. “We isolate the cancer cells down to 98 percent pure. We separate the cells out and plate them in a well tray. Then we make sure they are stable and alive. It does us no good to run the test on dead cells.” He continued, “Once we do that, we apply the chemotherapy agents to those cells.”
Henry said the agents used are per the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines for cancer treatments by site. For example, he noted, there are some 30 drugs approved for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCL) so each well in the tray with a NSCL sample would be tested against a different approved drug or combination of drugs.
Using a spectrophotometer, Henry said their system measures the change in cells’ optical density every five minutes over 48 hours. “We’re reading optical density changes and measuring the amount of light going through the cells.” He continued, “The cells interact with the drugs and go through apoptosis. When that happens, the cells start to bleb, and the blebbing changes the optical density, reducing the amount of light received by the spectrophotometer.”
At the end of two days, each chemotherapy agent or combination of agents produces a KU response value. “Our assay rank orders the drugs based on the kinetic unit,” Henry said, adding the result is a chart showing which tested agents had the highest kill value for that specific patient’s cancer cells down to the agents with the lowest response. Physicians receive results within 72 hours of the sample being sent to DiaTech.
The Data
An article about the role of the apoptosis test in drug development and clinical care cited improved response and survival rates. The August 2012 piece published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, stated:
“Blinded clinical trials have shown higher response rates and longer survival in groups of patients with acute myelocytic leukemia and epithelial ovarian cancer who have been treated with drugs that show high apoptosis in the MiCK assay. Unblinded clinical trials in multiple tumor types have shown that the assay will be used frequently by clinicians to determine treatment, and when used, results in higher response rates, longer times to relapse, and longer survivals.”
By knowing what works and what doesn’t, Henry said, physicians and patients could avoid the expense and frustration of wasting time and money on a treatment course that ultimately isn’t very effective. And for patients with growing tumors, time isn’t a luxury.
Henry was quick to add the CorrectChemo test doesn’t supersede physician knowledge and judgment. The highest ranked drug on the CorrectChemo assay might be bypassed, for example, if it had cardiac implications, and the patient in question had heart disease. He also said CorrectChemo isn’t in competition with molecular profiling of a tumor.
Instead, he concluded, “It’s another unique tool for the oncologist to be armed with to help them evaluate what would be the best treatment options for patients.”
About DiaTech
DiaTech Oncology has the exclusive and perpetual licensing rights to the technology originally developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University as the MiCK® Assay, which is now marketed as CorrectChemo®.
Founded in 2003, the privately held international life sciences company recently received CLIA approval to perform CorrectChemo testing at DiaTech’s Middle Tennessee lab, located adjacent to the corporate headquarters. The new lab will provide testing services for U.S. patients along with the lab in Montreal, which has been online since 2004.
The company also recently announced a partnership with Cancer Hope in Ra’anana, Israel to make their test available in the Middle East. Cancer Hope currently has relationships with 14 medical centers throughout Israel.
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