Personalized treatment options at a faster pace?
Technology to potentially increase high throughput of personalized medicine testing in cancer treatment.
A recent collaboration between Labcyte Inc. and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) aims to increase high throughput in the development of personalized medicine options in cancer treatment. FIMM will be applying Labcyte acoustic liquid-handling technology (generally used in small-molecule screening) across its personalized medicine programs.
“FIMM’s groundbreaking use of acoustic liquid handling will demonstrate the technology’s role in genetic research. FIMM has successfully used Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology to generate better data and drive down costs in small-molecule screening for the past 3 years. This collaboration with such a well regarded institute will facilitate breakthroughs in personalized medicine,” stated Chief Executive Officer of Labcyte, Mark Fischer-Colbrie.
In order to discover personalized medicine options at a faster rate, FIMM generally uses large sample sets directly linked to patient records and genetic data. Increasing high throughput by utilizing Labcyte liquid-handling technology will further improve the speed and efficiency of testing that can be achieved.
Olli Kallioniemi, director of FIMM commented, “We see an enormous potential in expanding our use of Labcyte acoustic dispensing technology to help discover specialized leukemia treatments. This research is based on high throughput drug sensitivity and resistance testing of leukemic cells taken from patients. Our aim is to find alternate treatment options for patients who simultaneously undergo treatment in the clinic. We will be doing real-time science, using new scientific insights and technologies to help patients who have failed standard leukemia treatments.”
A major aim of the scientists at FIMM is to gain an understanding of how leukemia cells ex vivo respond to different types of drugs. The researchers also hope to learn what the resistance mechanisms of the cells are.
Kallioniemi added, “Larger trials with samples from acute myeloid leukemia patients who have relapsed under standard treatment may quickly suggest individualized treatment options using existing cancer drugs. We’re not saying we can cure leukemia, but for patients who have run out of options, alternative treatments may be available sooner.”
