BALTIMORE, Md., April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. More than 50,000 people die of CRC each year and almost half of all newly diagnosed patients are in an advanced stage of cancer (metastatic CRC) when they are first diagnosed.
Because of the relatively low response rates of cancer patients to different drug regimens, researchers with InSilico Medicine and Champions Oncology set out to find biological signals or biomarkers in cancerous tumors that might predict in advance whether a patient is likely to respond to a drug treatment. Researchers focused on cetuximab, which is an antibody used in the targeted treatment of CRC patients who do not have a mutation of the K-ras gene. Yet, despite its approval by the FDA for use in these patients, cetuximab is successful in 40 to 60% of these cases.
According to a joint paper just released by Champions Oncology and InSilico Medicine, the two companies have identified a biological indicator that may predict in advance the likelihood that a specific patient will respond to cetuximab. If validated through clinical trials, researchers believe this "green light" tool will help oncologists make better decisions for patients.
"We're thrilled to collaborate with Champions Oncology and Dr. David Sidransky at Johns Hopkins University. While Champions is the leader in personalized medicine, we specialize in big data analysis and signaling pathway analysis. Working together, we're the most promising competitor in personalized medicine," said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, CEO of InSilico Medicine, Inc.
"Utilizing our TumorGraft platform and signaling pathway analysis from InSilico Medicine, we may decipher pathway activation profiles in cancer patients that lead to a better personalized treatment," said Keren Paz, PhD, Chief Scientific Office at Champions Oncology Inc.
About InSilico Medicine
InSilico Medicine, Inc. is a Baltimore-based company utilizing advances in genomics and big data analysis for in silico drug discovery and drug repurposing for aging and age-related diseases. The company utilizes the GeroScope™, OncoFinder™ , Pathway Cloud Intelligence™ and PharmAtlas™ packages for aging and cancer research, pursues internal drug discovery programs, and provides services to pharmaceutical companies.
If you have any questions about the science of aging, bioinformatics, or InSilico Medicine's plan in anti-aging research and drug discovery, please call (443) 451- 7212 or visit: http://www.insilicomedicine.com.
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