Life Technologies and Fox Chase Partner to Develop Routine Service for Cancer Genome Analysis

Initiative aims to provide clinicians with sequencing-based information for treatment decision making.

Fox Chase Cancer Center and Life Technologies are partnering on an initiative that ultimately aims to develop technologies that will make genome sequencing a broadly used diagnostic tool in cancer and establish a Cancer Genome Institute at Fox Chase. The partnership will exploit next-generation sequencing-based analysis of individual patients’ solid tumors, as a routine clinical service to diagnostic and prognostic information.

The initiative will combine the expertise of multidisciplinary scientists and clinicians to evaluate how genomic sequencing can be used in patient management. The resulting service will be based on Life Technology’s sequencing and analysis platforms including the SOLiD™ system and Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing as well as biological information technology systems for analysing genomic data.

The planned Cancer Genome Institute at Fox Chase will be located in a new facility on the campus. Building on work carried out through the cancer genomics initiative, the center aims to create a genomic knowledge database combining information on tumor genotype, the oncologist’s recommended targeted therapy, and subsequent clinical outcome.

Combined data will be made available to the research and clinical oncology community and build on Fox Chase’s existing biosample repository to add a new layer of knowledge, the organization claims. Fox Chase will also use the database to help stratify patients enrolled into clinical trials of cancer therapies, tested through collaborations established as part of its Phase I trials program.

“With this agreement, we are taking the next major step in delivering on the promise of personalized medicine for all cancer patients,” remarks Michael V. Seiden, M.D., president and CEO of the Fox Chase Cancer Center. “By coupling Life Technologies’ leading-edge sequencing instruments with Fox Chase’s broad scientific and clinical expertise, we expect to be among the leaders in advancing toward this goal.”