June is Cancer Immunotherapy Awareness Month. Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that enhances the patient’s own immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells. Several immunotherapies have been approved for use in treating cancer, such as checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy, and therapeutic vaccines.
The development of immuno-oncology drugs requires understanding their activity such as their ability to increase T cell response and production of cytokine. In-vitro functional assays are essential to assess their efficacy, MOA, safety and toxicity, particularly for mono- or bi-specific antibodies designed to target and kill cancer cells by recruiting patient’s immune cells.
Such clinically relevant assays using human cells are used @Sapien, as 2D or 3D tumour spheroids, to test drugs alone or in combination with FDA-approved drugs such as Keytruda, in lung cancer or triple negative breast cancer cells. The left side graph below shows one such patient-derived model, where cells were co-cultured with activated PBMCs, to assess combinatorial killing effect of a client’s anti-cancer drug with the PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda.
The right side graph below shows the Dendritic cell-Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction (DC-MLR) assay. It is used to assess the immunomodulatory activity of drugs such as Cyclosporine A or Teriflunomide, or novel NCEs or NBEs, in PBMC-derived dendritic cells stimulated with superantigen SEB and co-cultured with PBMCs.

Ovarian cancer is comprised of various tumour groups that are histologically distinct which is important to know for their treatment. The cancer may originate in one or both ovaries, as well as in the nearby fallopian tubes or peritoneum. Diverse types of ovarian cancers are categorized based on the originating cell’s name.

Epithelial ovarian carcinomas, known as cancerous epithelial tumours, are the most prevalent among ovarian cancers. The American Cancer Society states that approximately 85 to 90 percent of ovarian cancers originate from epithelial cells that encase the outer surface of the ovary. Sapien ovarian cancer data of 1445 cases also shows that 95% of cases constitute epithelial tumours while only 5% are non-epithelial tumours such as germ cell and stromal tumours. Among epithelial tumours, 55% are identified as serous, followed by endometroid, adeno, mucinous, and clear cell carcinomas. In contrast, 64% of non-epithelial tumours are germ cell tumors and 36% are stromal tumors.

World Ovarian Cancer Day is observed on May 8th each year, to raise awareness about Ovarian Cancer, its symptoms, risk factors, and the importance of early detection and personalized treatment. Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynecological cancers that ranks third after cervical and uterine cancer with high incidence in Asian women (9.2 per 100,000), with poor prognosis and high mortality rate.

In our biobank, we observe most ovarian cancer cases are detected at a young age with a median age of only 53 years, and in most cases cancer had already advanced and spread to both ovaries, bilateral cancer. If they had been detected earlier, they could have been cured as the cure rate for ovarian cancer is >80% if detected at early stage.

Epidemiology of ovarian cancer, June 2020
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/17c5/6233f2de1692f4b542db46bfec48e8090084.pdf

Sapien Biosciences is excited to share our recently published article, titled “The Landscape of Actionable Genomic Alterations in Lung Adenocarcinomas in India,” in Frontiers in Genetics, section Genetics of Common and Rare Diseases.

Our retrospective study, involving 53 Indian Lung Adenocarcinoma patients and utilizing a targeted NGS panel of 46 cancer-relevant oncogenes, revealed pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in 94% of cases. Notable findings include a high prevalence of TP53 (52.8%) and EGFR (50.9%) mutations, gender-based differences in genetic alterations, and the detection of clinically actionable variants in 79% of cases. These results emphasize the crucial role of NGS in uncovering actionable molecular alterations, enhancing our understanding of NSCLC’s molecular landscape, and facilitating personalized treatment for Indian patients based on their unique genetic profiles.

We extend our gratitude to the entire research team, collaborators @Thermo Fisher Scientific, @q-annie-hasan, @Dr Aruna Priya Kamireddy, and Frontiers in Genetics for helping us make this significant contribution to Indian genomics research possible.

Please find the link to our publication below:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1256756/full

Breast cancer can be diagnosed through multiple tests, including a mammogram, self-examination, ultrasound, MRI and biopsy. If the doctor finds an area of concern on a screening test (a mammogram), or if the patient has symptoms that could mean breast cancer, then more tests need to be done in order to diagnose whether it is cancer or not. The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. Breast cancer is sometimes found after symptoms appear, but many women with breast cancer have no symptoms. This is why regular breast cancer screening is so important. Any change in breast should be checked by a physician.

Most widely used methods of diagnosis are as follows:
1) Mammograms : low-dose x-rays
2) Ultrasound (USG) : sound waves and their echoes to make computer pictures of the inside of the breast. It can show certain breast changes, like fluid-filled cysts, that can be harder to see on mammograms.
3) MRI : radio waves and strong magnets to make detailed pictures of the inside of the breast.
4) Biopsy including Core needle biopsy, FNAC, or Surgical biopsy: this is done when mammograms, or another imaging test, or a physical exam shows a breast change that may be cancer.
A biopsy is the only way to know for sure if it’s cancer.

References:
Breast Cancer Mode of Detection in a Population-Based Cohort- 2022-

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36737116

Tru-Cut Biopsy versus Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Diagnosis of Early Breast Cancer-2023 https://ijmpr.in/article/Tru-Cut+Biopsy+versus+Fine+Needle+Aspiration+Cytology+in+Diagnosis+of+Early+Breast+Cancer

Fine-needle aspiration cytology versus core needle lymph node biopsy in axillary staging of breast cancer – 2022 https://ejrnm.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43055-022-00895-w
Comparison of ultrasound and mammography for early diagnosis of breast cancer among Chinese women with suspected breast lesions: A prospective trial – 2022
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9663682/