Mayo Clinic / T-Gen

ABC2’s investment helps move forward a novel personalized medicine trial for glioblastoma patients led by Mayo Clinic, one of the leading clinical centers, and TGen, a cutting edge genomics lab.  This partnership will use deep genomic and proteomic sequencing of glioblastoma (GBM) tumors to reveal new therapeutic options for patients. Rather than apply a universal therapeutic strategy, the team will look at the specific genomic signatures of the tumors and identify novel combination therapies using treatment options which may not typically be used to treat brain tumors.

Each patient’s GBM is as different from another patient’s GBM as their fingerprints. A critical factor for a treatment’s success or failure is genomic variability of the tumor, or its “genetic fingerprint.” The Mayo/TGen group believes that therapies for GBM can be individualized by genome based analysis of the primary tumor, which will identify “actionable” mutations. This information will drive the selection of specific agents as therapy for recurrent GBM. In parallel, patient-derived intracranial mouse xenografts will be developed from the same patients to compare the differences between recurrent GBM and their corresponding pre-treatment tumor samples. As sequencing costs and time decrease this trial should offer fundamental observations that have the potential to transform glioma care.

Mayo & TGen’s personalized medicine trial builds upon their successful pilot study identifying novel combination therapies for patients with “triple negative breast cancer,” a disease in which patients had very few therapeutic options.  Beyond the initial treatment, the group plans to track how the disease evolves over time and whether specific mechanisms of resistance can be isolated.