OncoMethylome Science licenses gene methylation technology from Fox Chase Cancer Center to detect ovarian and kidney cancer

24-Jun-2005

OncoMethylome Sciences announced that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa., for intellectual property describing the use of methylation Specific PCR (MSP) technology and a panel of genes for the early detection of ovarian and kidney cancers.

DNA methylation is one of the most common molecular alterations linked to the initiation and progression of cancers. This epigenetic alteration results in gene inactivation, or more accurately, silencing of gene expression. Scientists have known for a long time that silencing of genes, critical for inhibition of tumor growth, can lead to cancer development. Studies conducted at the Fox Chase Cancer Center by molecular biologist Paul Cairns, Ph.D., have identified site-specific panels of tumor-suppressor genes that are inactivated by methylation in ovarian and kidney cancer.

Dr. Cairns' work, first published in 2003 (Cancer Research-Dec. 2003, kidney; Sept. 2004, ovarian), demonstrated that hypermethylation is a common and relatively early event in cancer that can be detected in serum DNA from women with ovarian cancer and in the urine of patients with kidney cancer. Using a panel of genes, hypermethylation was detected in tissue and serum from 41 of 50 ovarian cancer patients (82% sensitivity) including 13 of 17 with early stage disease. At the same time, there was no methylation detected in any normal tissues or sera (100% specificity). Similarly, hypermethylation of one or more genes was detected in urine from 44 of 50 patients diagnosed with kidney cancer (88% sensitivity) with 100% specificity.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/47169/oncomethylome-science-licenses-gene-methylation-technology-from-fox-chase-cancer-center-to-detect-ovarian-and-kidney-cancer.html