Oncologica

Oncologica

User

Posted 26 Oct 2020 at 20:13

Hi All,

I was having a nose on the internet to see if there were any prostrate trials going on and a company called oncologica based in Cambridge came up stating that they use advances in genetic profiling now provide new treatment options for cancer.

They recon a single DNA test on a tumour sample can increase the chance of identifying a new and successful treatment by 90%.

Has anyone looked into this or tried it, I'm just curious to find out if it just a company that is out to make money by playing on our emotions and give us false hopes.

Chris

User

Posted 26 Oct 2020 at 23:45

I just looked up the account details on Companies House. They seem to have been around about five years, they seem to have borrowed nearly £2m. They employ 12 people. It doesn't sound like a completely fly by night snake oil salesman. But surely if genetic testing was a game changer we would have heard more about genetic testing of tumours.

Dave

User

Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 00:19

I think you have misinterpreted the information on the website, Chris. Oncologica is an approved laboratory, selling DNA tests and immunotherapy tests but mostly direct to oncologists or oncology departments in Europe. At the moment, they are pushing their COVID testing capacity.

You could pay them for a test but without your urologist / oncologist's support, I am not sure what you would do with the information and you are probably not going to meet the criteria for the immunology research trials currently being conducted in this country. Oncologica do research that they are commissioned to do by governments or universities, etc - for example, PCUK could pay they them to do some research on BRCA1 / 2 if they wanted.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 14:42

Hi All

Just done some more digging, what they say is they will use our original pathology biopsy block that was used to make the initial diagnosis.

They then say they will match the unique mutation profile of the tumour covering 505 genes linked to 764 targeted therapies including immunotherapy and this is able to identify additional treatment options in 90% of patients, and you can have all this done for £2450.

In my opinion if this was the case that this test could predict the correct treatment programme, I would imagine hospitals would already be using it.

Chris

User

Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 16:57

Issues:

- less than 10% or prostate cancers are believed to be genetic

- once the £2k has been spent and an ideal treatment plan has been devised, it may simply be the treatment plan you are already on

- the recommended treatment plan may not be available to you (e g. immunotherapy is only available in very limited circumstances) unless you have bottomless pockets and even then, may not be agreed by your oncologist

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 22:21

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

Issues:
- less than 10% or prostate cancers are believed to be genetic

Lyn, I agree with everything in your post, even the above, but a slightly different interpretation of it. Yes 10% of prostate cancer will be from a predisposition to cancer, but once it has started 100% of cancer is perpetuated by a genetic mutation, and this test is to find that mutation and treat it appropriately.

I agree that it is almost certainly £2k wasted for all the reasons you say above.

Dave

User

Posted 27 Oct 2020 at 23:17

Ah, I hadn't thought about it that way although it makes sense now. Even so, there aren't that many variations of treatment for advanced PCa .... HT or no HT, chemo or no chemo, early chemo or late chemo, abi or enza up front or held back until hormone independent, immunotherapy when everything else fails.

I have to say, if I was a cancer charity with a lot of money in the bank, I would be investing it in research labs like Oncologica; the brain tumour charity that I am involved with has been funding some immunotherapy research at Leeds.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 28 Oct 2020 at 15:07

At a recent appointment at Guys London was told by the doctor that in the Spring the hospital will have the facility to start doing dna testing of patients for brca mutations etc. So its looks like the NHS is getting into this field for PC cases.

Regards

Norm

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