NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The European Organisation for Treatment of Cancer and 14M Genomics today announced a collaboration to use genomic profiling for enrollment into cancer clinical trials.
Under the terms of the agreement, 14M Genomics will analyze genomic variation of patients newly diagnosed with colorectal, thoracic, brain, and skin cancers for the EORTC Screening Patients for Efficient Clinical Trial Access (SPECTA) program.
The diagnostic information will be paired with the clinical response to treatment to form a linked clinical genomic data set being assembled by EORTC and 14M that will contribute to future diagnostic guidance for new patients.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"We aim to improve the understanding of disease and help advance innovative therapies in cancer care for the benefit of patients," Denis Lacombe, director of EORTC, said in a statement. "Our partnership with 14M Genomics will improve our ability to diagnose and treat each patient as an individual, a step forward in personalised medicine."
SPECTAcolor, the first project under the program launched in 2013 and targeted at colorectal cancer, has been implemented in 21 clinical trial centers in nine European countries, the partners noted in a statement.
Last month, 14M Genomics announced a collaboration with the Haematological Malignancy Research Network focusing on diagnosis and treatment of blood and lymphatic cancers.