Texas Research Institute, TGen, OncoHost Partner to ID Lung Cancer Resistance Mechanisms

Original source here.

NEW YORK – Baylor Scott & White Research Institute in Texas, the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) at City of Hope, and OncoHost on Tuesday said they are researching resistance mechanisms in non-small cell lung cancer.

Within the project, the collaborators will analyze various samples and immune profiles from around 350 NSCLC patients during various stages of their disease and follow them for five years. Investigators will use proteomics, single-cell, ctDNA, and microbiome tools to analyze urine, blood, stool, and tissue samples stored in Baylor Scott & White's Texas Immuno-Oncology Biorepository. Through machine learning, researchers hope to generate insights about patients' host response, microbiome, tumor DNA, and immune system.

Researchers will use OncoHost's plasma-based Prophet proteomic analysis tool to identify mechanisms of resistance and suggest potential treatment combinations to overcome them. "This long-term study will provide an extensive assessment of cancer dynamics and the development of resistance," OncoHost CEO Ofer Sharon said in a statement. "We are working towards gaining a better understanding of patient response and, ultimately, improved overall survival for patients with advanced cancer."

In another ongoing trial, called PROPHETIC, involving 339 NSCLC patients, OncoHost said that Prophet was able to identify those most likely to benefit long term from combined immunotherapy-chemotherapy treatment and those who would fare better on immunotherapy alone.

In June, Cary, North Carolina-based OncoHost said it would develop proteomic tests that predict immunotherapy response and inform strategies to overcome resistance for its Prophet diagnostic system using SomaLogic's SomaScan platform.