Blood-based chemosensitivity testing

Chemotherapies are still the foundation of cancer treatment. Their use is often associated with significant side effects. The effectiveness of the respective therapy can often only be assessed after several cycles of therapy, e.g. if the tumour shrinks during therapy. With chemo-scale, it is possible to determine the effectiveness of the drugs or resistance mechanisms in advance using a blood sample. Insights into the characteristics of the tumour can thus be gained even before the start of therapy.

About chemo-scale

However, conventional ‘Standard of Care’ approach does not take into consideration the overall architecture of a particular patient‘s tumour and consequently, patients could suffer due to failed therapies or aggressive relapse. It is, thus, imperative that the characteristics of the tumour are studied comprehensively before deciding the treatment plan, which has to be personalised to individual patients and their disease.

DCG has proven the clinical relevance of chemo-scale with trials comprising more than 5.000 patients.

Faster access to the most effective, individually optimised chemotherapy through functional CTC analysis.

With chemo-scale analysis, we minimise the risks of therapy failure for the patient - saving money, reducing 'trial and error' and most importantly, intensifying the attack on the patient's cancer, not the patient. In addition, the patient benefits from treatments that are not only more effective, but also have fewer side effects.

  • chemo-scale directly tests the effect of chemotherapy / anti-cancer drugs on the patient's tumour cells. This facilitates the adaptation of the treatment plan to the sensitivity and resistance patterns of the tumour cells.
  • chemo-scale is performed on circulating tumour associated cells (C-TACs) isolated from peripheral blood. A control analysis is included.
  • chemo-scale does not aim to replicate the entire tumour process in the laboratory, but rather provides a quick assessment of which treatment options are highly effective and which are ineffective.
  • By analysing the chemoresistance profile of C-TACs and tumour tissue derived cells of the same patient, we observed a concordance of 93.7%.

chemo-scale is particularly recommended for cancer patients ...

... for whom several types of chemotherapy are possible.

... who are newly diagnosed with a solid tumour such as stomach, pancreas, breast etc.

... where cancer has relapsed

Analysis Unravels

  • Empirical data

    chemo-scale in its methodology and has extensive clinical evidence.

  • Results in percentages

    chemo-scale reveals cytotoxic chemotherapy drug efficacy.

  • Ranking of test results

    The medical findings list the recommended medications in order of effectiveness

  • Broad range of substances

    Analysis is carried out for single drugs in a fixed panel and - on request - for complementary drugs.

Sample requirement

,

30 ml blood in 3 EDTA tubes

Turn Around Time (TAT):
10 - 12 working days from receipt of the sample

FAQ

What is chemo-scale?

chemo-scale is a functional analysis of living tumour cells that shows which drugs are most effective against a patient's cancer. Based on the test results, the treating physician can select suitable chemotherapies, taking into account previous therapies, individual blood values, pre-existing conditions, etc.

What are the benefits of chemo-scale?

Not all drugs work the same on all patients. Some drugs may not prove benefical for the patient and waste valuable time and resources at a critical point in treatment. chemo-scale can be used to test the effectiveness of chemotherapy before treatment begins. Clinical studies have shown an 86.7% correlation between the chemoresistance profile and the radiological findings on disease progression (across all tumour stages).

How chemo-scale different from other pre-treatment cancer tests?
  • The key difference between other tests and chemo-scale is that Datar Cancer Genetics uses a different approach through which more relevant cells can be identified in the early phase of the disease, enabling a more precise recommendation (see publications).
  • While cytotoxic chemotherapy is a common therapy option in most solid tumours, conventional molecular tests mainly provide information on targeted therapy drugs.
  • chemo-scale evaluates the actual response of cancer cells to cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents or complementary substances.
  • chemo-scale is clinically validated on more than 5.000 patients.