Drug company and cancer research institute work together

A9

Times & Transcript Staff

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

BioProspecting NB Inc. and the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute are working together to develop an early diagnostic test for ovarian cancer.

Research and development will be carried out at the drug development company's Sackville research facility and at the institute's facility at the Dr. Georges-L. Dumont Regional Hospital in Moncton.

The unique fit between the institute's work with cancer biomarkers and BioProspecting's discoveries and development capabilities has allowed the two to move closer to an early diagnostic test for ovarian cancer. There are no approved early diagnostics for this cancer and BioProspecting believes it can fill this void.

The entry-level diagnostic is presently focused on a simple blood test to measure the amount of biomarker. Cancer tumours shed cells that circulate in the blood and since the shed cells contain abundant biomarker, it can be detected. Such an increase in the amount of biomarker in a blood test would suggest to the clinician that further testing is in order.

"The novel biomarker that we are targeting is overproduced in ovarian, breast and prostate cancers, to name a few," says BioProspecting founder Professor Jack Stewart. "By measuring the amount of the biomarker in biopsies, we are also able to obtain an indication of the severity of the cancer since the amount of biomarker increases as the cancer progresses."

While not underestimating the broader range of cancers that can be targeted, BioProspecting's initial focus is the management of patients with ovarian cancer.

According to Dr. Rodney Ouellette, CEO and co-founder of the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, "Early detection of ovarian cancer is a huge challenge given the sombre prognosis of this disease. Being able to detect an early-stage tumour-specific biomarker that is also the target for a novel treatment is a powerful combination and the epitome of personalized medicine. With these advances, we feel that there is promising potential for saving lives by finding the cancer earlier and having a more effective therapy."