SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI) today announced the execution of a letter of intent (LOI) to collaborate with Response Genetics, Inc. on molecular diagnostic testing and banking of advanced-stage Lung Cancer tissues.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090731/DC55399LOGO)
Specific molecular features of tumors, including EGFR mutations, ras mutations, ERCC1, RRM1 or TS overexpression, have been shown in multiple studies to have prognostic importance and/or be associated with benefit from specific interventions, as described in the NCCN 2009 Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Currently, only a minority of patients with Lung Cancer, especially advanced stage disease, are having these molecular assessments performed. As a result of ALCMI's efforts to address this inequity, RGI will employ its panel of clinically-validated genetic tests -- ResponseDX: Lung(TM) -- and rapidly communicate the results with the patients' physicians. "We are thrilled to collaborate with Response Genetics, and as a Lung Cancer survivor I know first-hand just how critical these tests will be to bringing the right therapies to each patient in a time-sensitive manner," said Bonnie J. Addario, founder of ALCMI and the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation.
"We are extremely pleased to be working with ALCMI to help make personalized medicine a reality for Lung Cancer patients," said Kathleen Danenberg, Response Genetics' president and CEO.
The lack of biospecimens from Lung Cancer patients with advanced disease is a major hurdle to advancing the state-of-the-art in applying individual tumor characteristics to the real-world management of patients. In response to this systematic barrier to progress, ALCMI is now poised to launch a targeted, multi-institutional tissue bank, the CASTLE Network. Under the terms of the LOI, this tissue bank which will be housed at Response Genetics' Los Angeles laboratory facility. "ALCMI's CASTLE Network will be the only resource of its kind in Lung Cancer that facilitates the collection of biospecimens from advanced-stage patients," said Steven Young, president and COO of ALCMI.
"Coupled with the routine determination of a panel of documented, clinically-significant biomarkers by Response Genetics, the ALCMI CASTLE Network will help lead the way as the Lung Cancer research community's premier, open access source for high quality proteomics, genomics, target validation, and correlative science analyses," said David Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, and chair of ALCMI's Scientific Leadership Board.
About Lung Cancer
According to the National Cancer Institute, estimated new cases and deaths related to Lung Cancer for 2008 is: New cases 215,020, and Deaths: 161, 840. Lung Cancer causes 30% of all cancer deaths according to the American Cancer Society. Lung Cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women and in every ethnic group. Lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma and kidney cancers combined.
About ALCMI
Concerned by the continued lack of meaningful progress against Lung Cancer, in 2006-2007 the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation assembled the field's foremost researchers, clinicians, and business leaders from academic and community medical centers, biopharmaceutical companies, and the investment community in order to ask a fundamental question: "If money for research and development was not a barrier, and a true collaboration could be achieved, what would you require to achieve a cure for Lung Cancer in the least amount of time?"
The overwhelming consensus response was to establish a national, virtual Lung Cancer institute -- an honest third-party broker that would develop and direct high-quality tissue specimen repositories, data systems, and fostered collaborations. As a result, Lung Cancer survivor Bonnie J. Addario and her husband Tony Addario established ALCMI in early 2008 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, with Mr. Steven Young assuming the role of President and Chief Operating Officer in the third quarter of that year.
Mission Statement:
The Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute is dedicated to catalyzing and accelerating the discovery, development and delivery of new and more effective treatment options for Lung Cancer patients. Over 450 people die a day of Lung Cancer in the United States and 1.3 million annually worldwide. Lung Cancer surpassed breast cancer as the number one killer of women in 1987. Sixty percent of Lung Caner is now diagnosed in NEVER smokers and former smokers and it kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, melanoma and kidney cancers combined.
ALCMI's Scientific Leadership Board:
David Carbone, M.D., Ph.D., (Vanderbilt University), David Gandara, M.D., (University of California, Davis), David Jablons, M.D., (University of California, San Francisco), Pasi J nne, M.D., Ph.D., (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), Ite Laird-Offringa, Ph.D., (University of Southern California), Harvey Pass, M.D., (New York University) and Rafael Rosell, M.D., Ph.D., (Catalan Institute of Oncology, Spain).
ALCMI is currently in negotiations with several community medical centers, thus further expanding the breadth, depth and diversity of ALCMI's Lung Cancer patient populations, while also preparing to launch its Collaborative Advanced Stage Tissue Lung Cancer (CASTLE) Network in the fall of 2009.
Media Relations Contact: Sheila Von Driska BJALCF/ALCMI 415.357.1278 For more information, contact Mr. Steven Young at syoung@alcmi.net or (203) 226-5765.
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Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation
CONTACT: Steven Young of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation,
+1-203-226-5765, syoung@alcmi.net; or Sheila Von Driska of BJALCF/ALCMI,
+1-415-357-1278
Web Site: http://www.lungcancerfoundation.org/
