Scientists have discovered a link between certain changes in the genome of a tumor and increased chances of death across multiple types of cancer. Their study (“Tumor copy number alteration burden is a pan-cancer prognostic factor associated with recurrence and death”), published in eLife, suggests the percentage of a tumor's genome with copy number…

As the U.S. marked the 242nd anniversary of its independence, the mother country also had reason to celebrate. England’s National Health Service commemorated its 70th birthday not with a cake or candles, but with a nicely timed announcement that the 70,000th genome had been sequenced of the 100,000 planned by…

Bio-Techne has agreed to acquire Exosome Diagnostics for up to $575 million, in a deal intended to position the buyer as a leader in non-invasive liquid biopsies and a developer of diagnostics for chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) cancer therapies. Headquartered in Waltham, MA, Exosome Diagnostics is a developer…

The American Association of Clinical Urologists (AACU) has issued a position statement encouraging the use of tissue-based molecular testing and/or germline testing for three groups of prostate cancer patients. The Association, which represents nearly 4,000 member urologists nationwide, said in the one-page statement that tissue-based molecular testing “should be considered”…

The Personal Genome Project Canada has released first results that suggest whole genome sequencing can benefit the country's quality of healthcare, based on the results of sequencing the entire personal genomes of 56 healthy participants. Those results, released Saturday, showed that one-quarter (14) of the 56 adult participants who had…

Patient-centric genomics company DxTerity announced it will collaborate with California-based City or Hope Medical Center on the clinical development of a blood test intended to predict whether patients about to undergo radiation therapy for cancer are likely to benefit from the treatment. The test will also seek to provide information…

Novartis’ Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) will be the first chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) cancer immunotherapy to reach the U.S. market following FDA approval yesterday. Kymriah, previously known as CTL019, is indicated for the treatment of second or later relapsed or refractory (r/r) patients up to age 25 with B-cell acute lymphoblastic…

A consortium of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Rutgers University, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Florida, and Yale School of Medicine used whole-exome sequencing (WES) and de novo variant detection to explore the genetics underlying Tourette syndrome, a neurological condition characterized by vocal and physical…

Researchers from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have harnessed the power of next-generation sequencing to develop innovative strategies for tracking disease-causing pathogens like E. coli. The investigators hope their new study—“Whole Genome Sequencing for Genomics-Guided Investigations of Escherichia coli O157: H7 Outbreaks”—published recently in Frontiers in Microbiology,…

After the initial diagnosis of cancer, the next morbid news patients must deal with is the approximation of life expectancy and how well they can expect to respond to chemotherapeutic interventions. These estimates are historically based on precedents set by previous cancer patients. Yet, what if there were a way…

Researchers from the University of Chicago reported on the results from a small trial aimed at patients with advanced metastatic urothelial cancer (UC). Many UC patients frequently have somatic mutations and copy number variation in the ERBB gene family, which are structurally related the epidermal growth factor receptor and the…

Lipidomics, the large-scale analysis of cellular lipids, is not only enriching the discipline of systems biology, it is also contributing to the development of new biomarkers. Yet for all the structural and mechanistic insights it is capable of providing, lipidomics continues to struggle with a blind spot. It has trouble…

In many ways type 2 diabetes can be compared to cancer, in that it is a multifactorial disease that rarely affects each person similarly. For decades, the medical community has struggled to diagnose and treat type 2 diabetes since it presents with such a vast array of symptoms and associated…