E!2584 DSEE-CRC

Purpose and goal

Cancer drug costs are rising and only a fraction of treatments are effective. 80% of patients with advanced cancer are given chemotherapy but only about 30% of them get clinical benefit. The goal of the first sub-project is to develop a clinically useful in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test (µcan) that should be able to guide oncological treatment decision-making. The objective of the second sub-project is to evaluate the feasibility and performance of the µcan test based on biopsies from 60 patients with unresectable disseminated colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Expected effects and result

Oncosyne´s new platform for in vitro diagnostics (IVD) aims to select the most effective drug treatment. The IVD test is based on screening the patient´s own cancer cells against approved cancer drugs. A successful completion of the project will increase the possibilities of giving patients with colorectal cancer the right treatment, and more importantly, the IVD platform can be used in the future for other forms of cancer. This will increase the cost-effectiveness of healthcare and hopefully, in the long run, increase the survival of cancer patients.

Planned approach and implementation

Sub-project 1 includes developing the µcan IVD test by developing: 1) An improved cell culture protocol for colorectal cancer biopsies 2) A drug screening test designed to achieve maximum hit rate 3) A clinically useful decision model. 4) Standardized SOPs conforming to ISO13485. Sub-project 2 is an exploratory randomized, open-label study of 60 patients with metastasized colorectal cancer unresponsive to standard therapy, who will be offered a medication suggested by µcan´s diagnostic report or treatment according to clinical practice.