Caris Life Sciences®, a molecular science company developing and delivering technologies to revolutionize healthcare, today announced that the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA) and the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) will collaborate on precision medicine research initiatives. The POA is a growing collaborative network of leading cancer centers working together to advance cancer care and establish standards for comprehensive molecular testing that improve patient outcomes.
As part of the collaboration, Caris will provide NCI researchers with its comprehensive suite of molecular profiles that provide detailed molecular insights into DNA (genome), RNA (transcriptome), and proteins (proteome). Caris will link molecular test results to an electronic medical records database, creating a more complete data set of combined patient outcomes and molecular information. In addition, joining the POA network will enable NCI faculty and researchers to conduct clinical and translational research across the alliance, participate in all ongoing research activities in all POA tumor groups, and generate and publish clinical outcomes data that impact cancer care in the United States.
“Joining Caris’ POA will support NCI CCR’s mission to improve the lives of all cancer patients by solving important, challenging and neglected problems in cancer research and patient care,” stated James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Medical Oncology Service at the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research. “We hope that working with Caris and other members of the POA will allow us to further advance promising innovative technologies that fuel improvements in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.”
The NCI is at the forefront of the national research effort to improve cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and survivorship, supporting 71 NCI-designated cancer centers and more than 5,000 grantees across the United States. The NCI also coordinates and supports all phases of clinical trials at 2,500 clinical trial sites across the country to develop new and improved cancer treatments. The NCI team of approximately 3,500 employees is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the 11 agencies that make up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The NCI CCR includes nearly 250 teams conducting basic, translational, and clinical research within the NCI’s intramural program – an environment that supports innovative science to improve human health. CCR’s clinical program is housed at the NIH Clinical Center, the world’s largest hospital dedicated to clinical research.
“The NCI is a global leader in cancer innovation and therapeutics. Our comprehensive molecular technology platforms and solutions are well-positioned to support the NCI’s ongoing initiatives,” said the Chairman and CEO of Caris,c. “We are honored and proud to partner with the NCI, who shares our vision and commitment to improving the lives of patients through precision medicine.”
NCI researchers, as well as other members of POA, have access to Caris CODEai™, the company’s state-of-the-art informatics system, and Big Data architecture platform. Caris CODEai is one of the largest and most comprehensive clinical genomic databases in the world and contains Caris’ extensive catalog of molecular data, which is matched with cancer treatment information and clinical outcomes from hundreds of thousands of patients.
“Access to Caris’ clinical-genomic database is an excellent complement to our data capture and analysis capabilities,” commented Eytan Ruppin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Cancer Data Science Laboratory at the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research. “Understanding the underlying molecular signatures of cancer patients at a large scale greatly enhances our ability to conduct meaningful research that translates into improved patient care.”
“We’re delighted to have the NCI join our POA network. The NCI is the national leader in driving cancer research, advancing new cancer treatments, and leading cancer prevention and early detection initiatives,” said Chadi Nabhan, M.D., MBA, FACP, Chairman of the POA. “We are eager to work with NCI scientists to support cancer research across a broad spectrum of cancer types and translate that into new treatments for cancer patients. Our combined vision of mitigating barriers to innovative diagnostics in cancer care will allow better access to newer precision oncology therapeutics for more patients in the years to come.”
The POA includes 55 cancer centers and academic institutions, including 24 NCI-designated cancer centers. These institutions have access to Caris’ extensive database and artificial intelligence platform to establish evidence-based standards for cancer profiling and molecular testing in oncology. For more information about Caris POA, visit the Caris website at CarisLifeSciences.com/Collaboration.
