A diagnostic tool for breast cancer that will allow doctors to look at the genetic composition of tumours and tailor treatments for individual patients could be launched later this year.
The French biotechnology company Ipsogen says its new test will allow doctors to offer women a more personalised regime of drugs, reducing side effects and increasing their chances of survival. It could also spare thousands of women needless toxic chemotherapy.
"Understanding differences in gene expression can help both patients and clinicians to decide what treatment would be most effective and appropriate with a personalised approach," said Alane Koki, chief scientific officer of Ipsogen.
The new technique uses screening technology called microarray to analyse DNA taken from tumour samples and work out which genes are switched on.
Microarrays use special light to measure the activity of thousands of genes simultaneously and are used mainly as research tools.
Dr Koki told the Fourth European Breast Cancer conference in Hamburg yesterday that the new breast cancer profile chip (BCPC) could be available this summer.
"To our knowledge the BCPC will be the first microarray diagnostic tool available to local pathology laboratories," she said.
Genetic variability is one of the biggest obstacles to effective breast cancer treatment.
Some cancers arise from faulty genes and others are caused by genes that stimulate abnormal states of growth. This makes it difficult to predict how different tumours will grow and how different women will respond to the same treatment.
As a result, the life expectancy for two patients with the same cancer at the same stage and following the same treatment can vary from several months to several years.
Scientists in specialist centres have already used microarrays to investigate gene expression in breast cancer, but Dr Koki said the automated BCPC was much easier to use and produced results "at the touch of a button".
The chip looks at the activity of 900 key genes known to play roles in breast cancer to profile the tumour and predict how it will react to treatment, perhaps avoiding prolonged dosing with ineffective drugs and their associated side effects.
Microarrays could also offer clues to how a tumour will spread or return after treatment, sparing some patients from chemotherapy and highlighting others that need higher doses or closer monitoring.
"We are optimistic that it will provide useful information to deliver a more personalised approach to patient care by providing both patients and physicians with reliable information to make informed, intelligent treatment decisions," said Dr Koki.
The chip has not yet been approved by the regulators, but Ipsogen says tests to prove it works could be finished within months. The company is planning clinical trials to determine how it can optimise the treatment of breast cancer which accounts for about a quarter of all cancers in women.
