A mitochondrial glutamine transporter variant of the SLC1A5 gene is a key regulator of glutamine metabolism and metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, and targeting such transporters could be a new strategy for controlling tumor growth, Korean researchers reported online in the Dec. 19, 2019, edition of Cell Metabolism.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is better than humans at pattern recognition within images and other densely complex datasets. That fact has long been expected to translate into meaningful change in the way we interpret health care data, but beyond a few early exceptions that is not yet the case. Now, the research is starting to amass that demonstrates the real potential for machine learning to significantly improve diagnostics and treatment.
Check-Cap Ltd., of Isfiya, Israel, reported positive results from a U.S. pilot study of its C-Scan System, a preparation-free, ingestible scanning capsule-based technology aimed at preventing colorectal cancer (CRC) through early detection of precancerous polyps. The company is currently preparing an IDE submission with the U.S. FDA and plans to launch a pivotal clinical trial in late 2020.
The screening of at-risk patients for Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to esophageal cancer, has long been a goal for health systems. Currently, most patients with the condition remain undiagnosed, and more than 90% of individuals are identified after it has progressed into esophageal cancer via endoscopy, according to a 2018 paper in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.
TORONTO – Imagin Medical Inc., which has a presence near Boston and in Vancouver, British Columbia, will have verified and built a device in early January that meets all functional, electrical safety and radiated emission requirements for a new way of visualizing bladder cancer. Jim Hutchens, Imagin Medical’s president and CEO, said the i/blue imaging system should dramatically improve surgeons’ ability to visualize cancerous bladder cells by producing higher quality images more quickly compared with current methods.
The Guardant360 assay accurately detected genomic alterations that permit patient matching to targeted therapies, according to a presentation of the plasmaMATCH study at the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The study is the largest ever performed for a liquid biopsy.
TORONTO – “I don’t want this to die in the lab. We’re putting a lot of effort into this and we have to commercialize it.” With those words Oleksandr Bubon, chief technology officer of Thunder Bay, Ontario-based startup Radialis Inc., in 2016 reported ambitious plans for an imaging device that detects early stage cancer tumors in the densest breast tissue. Not only will its novel “gapless” design prevent radiation needed to treat cancer cells from escaping, a common problem in conventional positron emissions tomography (PET), its manufacture and commercialization starts here in a northern Ontario city of just over 110,000 people.
PARIS – A team of medical researchers and engineers from the Gustave Roussy Institute, in Villejuif, France, and Paris-Sud University recently developed an artificial intelligence system called Resolved2, designed to assess prospective cancer drugs. As Loïc Verlingue, lead cancer specialist on the data science team at the Gustave Roussy Institute, explained to BioWorld MedTech, “this AI is intended to predict efficiently whether a cancer treatment molecule will achieve authorization or not within six years of pharmacological data and phase I clinical trials.”
Irving, Texas-based Caris Life Sciences Inc. has launched an AI-based genomic profiling test to better characterize cases of cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP) and atypical cases and offer appropriate treatment options. Known as the MI GPS (Genomic Profiling Similarity) Score, the analysis is based on an AI analysis of a 592-gene panel of all the clinically relevant genetic biomarkers for cancer.
Lantheus Holdings Inc., of North Billerica, Mass., has entered a strategic collaboration with Paris-based Carthera SAS for the use of its microbubbles in combination with Carthera’s investigational Sonocloud system. The implantable device is in development for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain tumor with a post-diagnosis median survival of just 15 months. The new deal furthers two of Lantheus’ strategic goals, finding new applications for its microbubbles and expanding its footprint in oncology.
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