On September 24, 2014 Instinctif Partners (formerly College Hill) reported they sponsored and hosted a breakfast briefing with Cancer Research Technology (CRT), entitled "Innovative approaches to better diagnose and treat cancer patients: analysis of blood borne tumour cells and DNA" on 23 September 2014 (Press release, Cancer Research Technology, SEP 24, 2014, View Source [SID1234523516]).
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There is a pressing need to improve methods used to assess cancer diagnosis and treatment especially in light of the recent demonstration that tumours are heterogeneous genetically. Multiple direct biopsies, either from different sites or over time (or both), are difficult to achieve for many reasons. The discoveries that in the blood of cancer patients both circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and cell-free tumour DNA (cfDNA) can be detected offers new ‘non-invasive’ methods to determine the true genetic make-up of a cancer, its likelihood of spreading and its response to therapy during a course of treatment. Overall, both CTCs and cfDNA show the potential for improving drug development including in immunotherapy, an area which is demonstrating how cancer research is improving patient outcomes.
The breakfast briefing was chaired by CRT Chief Scientific Officer Dr Clive Stanway, and included discussions on these innovative developments by leading Cancer Research UK-funded scientists Professor Carlos Caldas, Dr Nitzan Rosenfeld, and Professor Caroline Dive. The event attended by key journalists from the industry provided an excellent opportunity for media exposure to this rapidly evolving field.
Dr Clive Stanway, CRT Chief Scientific Officer explained: "This event really helped us demonstrate the potential of analysing circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and cell-free tumour DNA (cfDNA), two new technologies for cancer patient treatment and drug discovery. The Instinctif Partners team was instrumental in helping us getting this message across, the planning and execution of the event went very smoothly and it has been great to work with the team."
Commenting on Instinctif Partner’s sponsorship of the event, Dr Christelle Kerouedan, Associate Partner, added: "Using our extensive experience and resources in media event planning and execution, Instinctif has helped Cancer Research Technology to highlight this rapidly evolving field of cancer research to key journalists. We are delighted to have worked with the CRT team on the organisation of this successful event".