為了尋找新型生物學指標，用于研發(fā)能夠在癌癥早期階段進行篩查的檢測方法，一家叫做Orion基因組學的公司開始與美國華盛頓大學的研究人員進行合作。

在這項新的合作計劃中，科學家將著眼于最常見的癌癥，包括肺癌、乳腺癌、宮頸癌、前列腺癌和卵巢癌，尋找能夠提示這些癌癥的生物學指標，以及這些指標對特定的治療方案有何種反應。這些生物學指標，被Orion公司稱為“第二密碼”生物學指標，參考能夠提供基因調(diào)節(jié)信息的DNA甲基化模式。這項研究使得Orion公司能夠開發(fā)檢測痕量甲基化的腫瘤DNA，主要是在那些很容易獲得的組織例如血清、活檢標本、細胞拭子。公司希望能夠在3年內(nèi)將這些檢測方法推向市場。

Orion公司科學顧問Howard McLeod博士解釋說：“我們正在尋找能夠解釋為何癌癥患者對相同療程的治療反應不同的特異性分子生物學指標。我們十分樂觀這些生物學指標將會極大的影響臨床實踐，幫助醫(yī)生更加精確地為患者選擇恰當?shù)闹委煼桨浮！?/P>

Orion腫瘤學診斷新途徑包括該公司的“甲基化篩查”技術、以酶為基礎的實時PCR技術，能夠與目前廣泛使用的檢測平臺相兼容。篩查檢測的敏感性使得Orion公司的科學家能夠測定能夠提示疾病進程的單個質(zhì)量的外成DNA，以研發(fā)腫瘤診斷方法，這種方法不僅能夠診斷癌癥還能夠對疾病進展提供重要信息。

New Collaborations on Cancer Biomarkers
 
In its quest to discover novel biomarkers for the development of tests that screen for cancer at an early stage, a company called Orion Genomics (St. Louis, MO, USA) has initiated several new collaborations with researchers at Washington University (St. Louis, MO, USA).

In the new collaborations, scientists will focus on the most common cancers, including lung, breast, cervical, prostate, and ovarian cancer, seeking biomarkers that indicate the presence of cancer and how it will respond to certain therapies. These biomarkers, called Second Code biomarkers by Orion, refer to DNA methylation patterns that provide information on the regulation of genes. The research is intended to enable Orion to develop tests that detect trace amounts of methylated tumor DNA in easy-to-access tissues such as blood serum, biopsies, and cell scraps. The company expects to market the tests within three years.

“We are looking for specific molecular biomarkers that explain why patients with cancer respond differently to the same course of treatment,” explained Dr. Howard McLeod, a scientific consultant for Orion. “We are optimistic that these biomarkers will greatly impact clinical practice by enabling doctors to more accurately match therapies to patients.”

Orion’s new pipeline of oncology diagnostics will be enabled by the company’s MethylScreen technology, an enzyme-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology that is compatible with testing platforms widely used today. The sensitivity of the screen enables Orion’s scientists to measure unique qualities of epigenetic DNA that are indicative of disease progression, allowing for the development of oncology diagnostics that not only diagnose for cancer but provide critical information on disease progression.