Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health, to Give Keynote at 2nd Cancer Markers & Liquid Biopsies

Boston, MA, April 27, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Helmy Eltoukhy, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Guardant Health, will give a keynote presentation on, “From Wired to Wireless: The Guardant Experience with 20,000+ Clinical Liquid Biopsies” at GTCbio’s 2nd Cancer Markers & Liquid Biopsies Conference to be held on July 6-7, 2016 in Boston, MA.

Guardant Health, the leader in non-invasive cancer genomic sequencing whose test for cancer requires just two vials of blood, have raised nearly $100 million in Series D funding roughly one year after closing on $90 million for its Series C round.

Over the last 2 years there has been rapid uptake of Guardant360, the leading comprehensive liquid biopsy for non-invasive tumor genomic profiling via circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) of advanced cancer patients. During this time, over 20,000 cancer patients have been tested across more than 40 cancer types. Here we present a detailed comparison between genomic data derived from blood-based somatic profiling versus tissue biopsy-based testing from private and public datasets. We find that the genomic landscape derived from Guardant360 testing largely recapitulates that seen in tissue sequencing studies, specifically with respect to cancer-type-specific frequencies and mutual exclusivity patterns among major driver alterations, with clinically relevant exceptions. Overall, mutation frequencies per codon correlate well, both for commonly altered genes, however acquired resistance mutations are significantly enriched in the Guardant360 ctDNA dataset underscoring the clinical importance of studying disease in representative real world settings rather than exclusively from treatment-naïve cohorts. The major classes of clinical outcome benefits observed with Guardant360 testing include identification of: actionable mutations in cases with tissue insufficiency or unavailability, actionable resistance mutations at time of progression, and evolution of sensitivity upon progression. Analogous to the application explosion encountered during the wired to wireless revolution, site-agnostic tumor profiling opens up new applications enabling quantitative tracking of heterogeneity, predictive analytics and ultimately much more adaptive management of the disease. Moreover, recent research advances of the underlying Guardant360 platform suggest that current performance levels can be dramatically improved, opening up exciting new clinical applications that span the continuum of cancer care.

Leaders in industry and academia will discuss platforms for isolating and studying CTCs. Technologies such as next generation sequencing and digital PCR are gaining momentum in these research areas. Biomarker sensitivity, stability, validation, and how we can use markers to follow up with patients and improve the quality of life, will also be discussed.

Session Topics:
I. Isolation, Characterization & Diagnostic Applications of CTCs
II. Advances in the Clinical Application of Circulating Nucleic Acids
III. Validation & Application of Cancer Specific Markers
IV. Current Progress in Exosome Application
V. Clinical & Biological Challenges in Liquid Biopsy

This conference is also part of our larger Molecular Diagnostics Summit, which includes two additional conferences:
2nd Cancer Markers & Liquid Biopsies
Precision Medicine
Digital PCR & qPCR

For more information, please visit website: www.gtcbio.com/conferences/cancer-markers-liquid-biopsies-overview

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