A clinical study recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute supports a test – created in Sudbury – that can help physicians evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.
Patients treated with chemotherapy can experience significant short- and often long-term harmful side effects.
The RNA Disruption Assay is a test that proviudes physicians information on how patients are responding to chemotherapy treatment.
The test can identify those who are not responding early in their treatment. Patients who are non-responders to the chemotherapy could be spared the toxic side effects of the treatment and switched earlier to potentially better treatments such as surgery, radiation therapy, or other drugs.
The new study by Dr. Bryan Hennessy, of the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, tested the RNA Disruption Assay in breast cancer patients.
“RDA is an exciting new technology that addresses a serious unmet need,” Hennessy said in a press release. “With RDA (RNA Disruption Assay) testing we will be able to tailor treatment to actual patient response. We are interested in exploring how RDA can help us improve treatments for breast cancer and rectal cancer patients.”
Laurentian University professor Dr. Amadeo Parissenti and his research associate Dr. Baoqing Guo, of Health Sciences North, developed the RNA Disruption Assay test.
Laurentian has licensed the technology exclusively to Rna Diagnostics Inc., a Canadian molecular diagnostics company that develops diagnostic tools to improve chemotherapy management.
Rna Diagnostics has established a laboratory at the Health Sciences North Research Institute in Sudbury.
The company acknowledges its northern supporters, including its Sudbury investors, the Northern Cancer Foundation, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the Industrial Research Assistance Program and FedNor.
