NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Natera and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research will partner to conduct research on cell-free circulating tumor DNA in order to detect, diagnose, and monitor cancer.
Natera will provide funding to the Feinstein Institute, which will contribute blood and tissue samples. Natera will develop technology for detecting ctDNA.
"Our vision is to enable cancer detection across multiple tumor types that will have the same key features as our prenatal tests: early, accurate, and non-invasive," said Natera CEO Matthew Rabinowitz in a statement.
Natera uses a targeted sequencing technology in its Panorama non-invasive prenatal test that analyzes SNPs in cell-free DNA to determine fetal aneuploidy. A similar sequencing strategy could be applied to circulating tumor DNA in cancer patients for monitoring the disease.
"Earlier cancer detection leads to better clinical outcomes," Peter Gregersen, director of the Feinstein Institute's Center for Genomics and Human Genetics, said in a statement. "[W]e are optimistic about the application of Natera's core technology to address the unique challenges in early cancer detection and monitoring."