OICR-supported researcher Dr. Harriet Feilotter leads liquid biopsy research program
Adapted from Canexia Health’s news release and Patriot One Technologies’ news release.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many areas of life, including the diagnosis and treatment of other health conditions, people have chosen to forgo cancer screening and care in attempt to minimize their potential exposure to the virus. Relative to the general population, people living with cancer are more susceptible to the virus, but delaying cancer treatment may allow the disease to grow or spread.
Dr. Harriet Feilotter has teamed up with members of the pan-Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster to bring greater access to cancer testing and treatment during the pandemic and beyond. Through the $2.59 million Project ACTT (Access to Cancer Testing & Treatment in Response to COVID-19), they aim to provide liquid biopsy solutions, which require only a simple blood draw, as alternatives to surgical tissue biopsies for cancer diagnosis and care.
“The goal is to allow patients alternatives to invasive procedures that may be difficult to access during a pandemic,” says Feilotter, Molecular Geneticist and Scientist at Kingston Health Sciences Centre, faculty member of Queen’s Cancer Research Institute and OICR Associate. “Not only would this benefit those patients who live far from large cancer centres, but it could limit patient exposure to COVID-19 and increase health system capacity.”
The collaborative team is led in part by Canexia Health, which develops specialized cancer genomic assays, and Patriot One Technologies Inc.’s subsidiary Xtract AI, which specializes in machine learning solutions across a variety of applications, among other private and public partners. Together, they will work to enhance their current tests that detect mutations in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) from blood and deploy these tests for multiple cancer types across Canada.
Now through ACTT, some patients have access to these tests in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. The long-term objective is to increase access across the country.
“The development of liquid biopsies and ctDNA testing has been accelerated by this pandemic,” says Feilotter. “We’re proud to team up in this cross-disciplinary, cross-sector collaboration to bring these promising solutions to more patients.”
Read Canexia Health’s news release or Patriot One Technologies’ news release