Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras has set up a first-of-its kind Centre of Excellence to carry out research to develop biomarkers for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, according to officials.
The sequence data from the ‘Centre of Excellence on Cancer Genomics and Molecular Therapeutics’ will assist in the development of an India-specific cancer genome database, important to identify and develop biomarkers for early detection and understanding the response of the drug, the officials said.
The data developed could also help to identify drug targets for novel therapeutics, they added.
Pancreatic Cancer's dangers
Pancreatic Cancer (PDAC) is the fourth prominent cause of cancer deaths across the world and is projected to be placed in the second within a decade.
Since the cancer incidence rate is high, most pharmaceutical companies are on the lookout for Indian-specific cancer genome data to establish biomarkers for specific therapeutics.
The patient survival rate is very low compared to Western societies due to genomic heterogeneity since there is no Indian population-specific cancer genome data available today and all studies are based on what is available from the Western population.
“Biomarkers identified from the proposed work will be critical for developing real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and sequencing-based early diagnostic kits. Also, identified drug targets will be used for developing novel anti-cancer therapeutics for pancreatic cancer,” the principal investigator of the research, S Mahalingam, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, said.
"The preclinical cancer models will be of immense help for drug screening and understanding the in-vivo cancer pathogenesis. The successful development of an organoid will facilitate high-throughput cancer drug screening. A similar approach will be extended to other cancers prevalent in India, and this will help to initiate a start-up company on cancer therapeutics and diagnostics," he added.
Aim of Centre of Excellence
He said that the the centre will work towards the development of non-invasive biomarker gene panel for early diagnostics, disease monitoring, treatment response and disease monitoring and a preclinical 3D organoid model for disease monitoring and drug screening towards personalised cancer treatment.
"This CoE is a unique collaborative initiative between cancer biologists, bioengineers, computational biologists, and clinical experts, and one of the first-of-its-kind in India. This scale of interdisciplinary effort is required to create significant breakthroughs in improving the healthcare infrastructure of India, for cancer treatment and beyond," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
