NEW YORK — Theralink Technologies said on Monday that it is working with George Mason University and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey to commercialize an assay that can guide treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer patients.
The institutes recently received the US Army's Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award, worth $1.3 million, to clinically validate a test developed at George Mason that measures HER2 activation (phosphorylation) in a breast cancer biopsy to help determine if a patient will respond to treatment.
During the first year of the project, George Mason and Rutgers Cancer Institute scientists will measure HER2 activation retrospectively on previously collected pretreatment breast cancer specimens and cross reference it with treatment outcomes. The findings will then be used to design prospective clinical trials and personalize treatment options for HER2 positive patients at the Rutgers Cancer Institute and RWJBarnabas Health.
Pending a positive outcome of the work, George Mason and the Rutgers Cancer Institute have signed on Theralink to commercialize the assay using its reverse phase protein array technology, as well as to assist with the test's expanded clinical assessment to help with its adoption by oncologists.