iCellate Medical receives first patient samples in two new clinical studies
Stockholm, Sweden – October 3, 2023 – iCellate continues validation of its circulating tumor cell (CTC) platform CellMate® across various cancer indications. This week we anticipate including the first patient samples in two new studies, a prostate study in collaboration with Capio Urology Center in Liljeholmen, Sweden and a pancreatic study together with Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge.
Clinical evidence is currently in focus for iCellate, i.e. more data to support the commercial efforts in establishing CellMate® as a companion diagnostic in pharma development projects and using CellMate® clinically in pancreatic cancer to prove malignancy before down-sizing tumor therapy.
CellMate® is a circulating tumor cell (CTC)-based platform for cancer cell detection and biomarker analysis. The isolation of CTCs in the blood provides for a more comprehensive analysis of genomic and protein biomarkers to support treatment selection.
Clinical practice for diagnosis and characterization of cancer today requires a tumor tissue biopsy. A tissue biopsy, however, is not always obtainable and may be associated with complications.
CellMate® in prostate cancer
Despite prostate cancer being the most common cancers in men, the question of whether to implement general prostate cancer screening remains unanswered. Today’s tools for screening, PSA (prostate specific antigen) and Sthlm3 test, has not achieved sensitivity levels high enough to be approved for national screening.
The objective is to determnine CellMate®’s ability to detect CTCs across stages of disease, but also to analyze expression of the cell surface marker PSMA (prostate specific membrane antigen). A prostate cancer patient that expresses PSMA may benefit from a PSMA-targeted therapy, a growing area of development in the pharmaceutical industry.
CellMate® in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses compared to other cancer types. Symptoms are typically diffuse, and the tumor is often detected only after it has spread to other organs (roughly 70-80% of cases), at which point it is considered uncurable.
iCellate aim to provide pancreatic cancer patients the right care at the right time by using CellMate®. It may be used as an early cancer detection tool for a better chance of survival, particularly in high-risk groups, and/or to guide treatment selection.
iCellate’s early results in pancreatic cancer have far exceeded expectations, particularly in early-stage disease, suggesting that CellMate® may have a future role to play in early detection. Half a million people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and up to 30% of patients could benefit from a CellMate® test to confirm tumor malignancy and down-sizing therapy. CellMate® is easily repeatable and could be used throughout the course of treatment to monitor its effect.
- We are happy to once again see both curiosity and desire to test our innovations in the healthcare system, says CEO Pelle Redare. We all know that cancer must be diagnosed earlier than what is being done today, and we are delighted to collaborate with our clinical partners to make this happen, Pelle continues.
Iohn Ryott
COO
iohn.ryott@icellate.se
iCellate is a Swedish life science company founded in 2011 with its laboratory and office located in Stockholm. iCellate develops cancer diagnostic services across the cancer lifecycle, from hereditary cancer risk (GeneMate®) to early detection, treatment prediction and treatment monitoring (CellMate®).
The technologies are based on research from the Karolinska Institute in collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
iCellate is accredited by Swedac as a medical laboratory according to ISO 15189
Read more at icellate.com.
