Improving cancer treatment with molecular diagnostics - from patient molecular profiling to liquid biopsy

by Carolina Oliva Garcia, PhD, Product Manager Clinical Diagnostics Services

Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics supports the pharmaceutical industry with speciality diagnostics tests to identify those patients who can best benefit from a particular treatment. Molecular diagnostics tests inform the physician on the patient’s molecular profile, aiding in drug recommendation and dosage adjustment in a personalised manner. The main advantages of molecular profiling include not only an increase in drug efficiency thanks to targeting the right patients but also better drug safety profiles, i.e. fewer adverse side effects and lower toxicity, which greatly benefit patients. Some successful examples in cancer treatment where Eurofins is involved are: FLT3 gene profiling to guide acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treatment, and BCR-ABL fusion gene molecular profiling for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treatment.

Another important innovation in molecular diagnostics applied to oncology is the use of liquid biopsy. Once a patient is suspected to have cancer, a confirmatory diagnosis by tissue biopsy will follow. If cancer diagnosis is confirmed, tumour molecular characterisation will be the next step to provide the full picture of the clinical situation. This service, provided by Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics, enables oncologists to make an informed decision on the best treatment for each individual patient. It is recommended for the patient to be monitored by using liquid biopsy, an innovative test developed at Eurofins and that follows on cancer driver mutations in tumour cell-free DNA. As the test is noninvasive, i.e. only a blood draw is required; it can be performed periodically without discomfort for the patient. Depending on the patient’s response to the treatment, i.e. changes in cancer driver mutations, modifications of drug dosage and schedule can be recommended.

Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics offers tissue and liquid biopsy testing for precision therapy and dynamic monitoring of cancer patients and is involved in several clinical trials with pharmaceutical companies to improve cancer patient outcomes thanks to more personalised treatments. One of those important trials where Eurofins is currently participating involves a new Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) combined with Letrozole for the treatment of breast cancer.

For more information visit: www.eurofins.com/clinicaldiagnostics/ clinical-diagnostics-services/oncology/