Release date: 2016-01-14 At present, the mainstream opinion in the medical field believes that if it can be found early in the onset of cancer (for the doctor, there is no clinical manifestation; for the patient, there is no feeling of sputum), it will greatly prolong the survival of the patient. You can even heal it. Therefore, the current advice on guiding cancer treatment is: early prevention, early detection, early treatment. This is the so-called "three early". Source: Singularity Network Ip Video Intercom,Ip Intercom System,Ip Video Intercom System,Ip Door Entry System Zhuhai Mingke Electronics Technology Co., Ltd , https://www.mingke-tech.com
In fact, scientists have never stopped seeking tumor markers that have a warning effect on cancer. Of course, they also have some gains, but most of the tumor markers are not only unable to warn early cancer, but even have problems with sensitivity and specificity. It’s really frustrating.
For early tumor tissue, a small number of tumor cells die and rupture, and the DNA inside the cells is released into the blood. The blood genetic detection technology just uses these free DNA to determine whether the body is cancerous. With the development of gene sequencing technology, a detection technique called ctDNA (circulating tumor DNA) brings new hope for early diagnosis of cancer.
Although Pathway Genomics is currently working on early detection of cancer, Illumina CEO Jay Flatley believes that only Illumina on Earth should have the strength to conduct early cancer research and market it.
Flatley said it was done. On January 10th, Illumina announced the formation of blood genetic testing company Grail, in an attempt to find early cancers with no clinical manifestations by deep sequencing of DNA fragments in the blood. Illumina teamed up with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to inject $1 million in Series A investment into Grail.
There are probably four reasons why Illumina founded Grail.
First, the price of whole-genome sequencing has fallen below $1,000, and in the next year or two, this price should quickly drop to acceptable levels for the average consumer.
Second, Illumina, the world's largest producer of sequencers, has more than $2 billion in annual sales of sequencing instruments and consumables. It is very financially powerful, and Grail can directly use Illumina's sequencing platform, which greatly reduces R&D costs. .
Third, the market has huge demand. According to the World Health Organization, the number of cancers in the world has increased year by year. Studies have shown that screening for cancer has played a role in reducing the incidence of cancer.
Fourth, if the early screening of cancer is successful, it will certainly be strongly supported by the government because early cancer can be cured by relatively simple surgery or chemotherapy. This can save the government a large amount of money into new drug development and patient care every year.
Of course, Illumina's founding of Grail was not a whim. As early as September 2015, Illumina collaborated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) to reveal Illumina's determination to intervene in early detection of cancer.
Illumina and MSK believe that although traditional tissue biopsy can also acquire the DNA of tumor cells, this invasive biopsy has certain risks; in addition, this tissue biopsy is mostly used for cancer treatment guidance, efficacy analysis and prognosis, not as early Diagnostic tool.
However, the relationship between ctDNA and cancer has not actually been established. This is why the FDA has stopped Pathway Genomics for consumer cancer testing.
Illumina and MSK are working together to create a model between ctDNA and early cancer. According to the cooperation agreement between the two, MSK mainly collects suitable test samples, and Illumina is responsible for sequencing and data analysis. As the current head of Grail, Flatley said that Grail will complete the sequencing of tens of thousands of people in the next few years, with a cumulative sample size of 400,000. Flatley hopes to use this data to analyze the relationship between early cancer and ctDNA.
By analyzing what Grail has to do, it's not hard to understand why Flatley says that Illumina is the only company that has the strength to conduct early cancer research. Illumina pulls Microsoft and Amazon into the partnership, and should also use their computer technology and data analysis technology.
MSK's José Baselga said that if MSK and Illumina do something now, it will make a fundamental change in the treatment of cancer. Baselga said that products that can screen all cancers will be clinically tested in 2017 and are expected to be available in 2019, but before that, lung and breast cancer testing products will be introduced.
Flatley said in an interview: "We have a strong sense of urgency. We want to bring our products to market as soon as possible. If we follow our direction, we will save millions of lives."