iSpecimen Launches New Virtual Cancer Sequencing Procurement Program
Program to Provide Cancer Researchers with Direct Access to Highly Sought Donor Tumor Tissue Samples
Virtual Inventory Comprised of Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) Samples Screened for Mutations
LEXINGTON, Mass., Aug. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iSpecimen Inc. (Nasdaq: ISPC) (“iSpecimen” or the “Company”), an online global marketplace that connects scientists requiring biospecimens for medical research with a network of healthcare specimen providers, announced today the launch of a new program that gives researchers consistent and direct access to mutation-characterized formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (“FFPE”) cancer tumor tissues, relieving a major bottleneck in cancer research. The program will initially offer samples for lung, colon and breast cancers.
The genetic signatures of cancer tumor tissues provide important information necessary to develop new treatments and diagnostics. Through this new offering, cancer researchers can advance their work by efficiently accessing these highly sought-after tumor tissues online, overcoming the existing manual, time-consuming and costly process of requesting biospecimen samples from multiple sources and suppliers.
“This is a very important program for the future of iSpecimen. Our new cancer sequencing procurement program provides cancer researchers with access to mutation-characterized FFPE tumor tissues without requiring that they manage the risk and resource-intense course of overseeing the sequencing process,” said Tracy Curley, iSpecimen’s CEO. “Additionally, not only does the program offer limitless, on-demand access to cases specifically earmarked for this program, but it also empowers researchers to customize future FFPE tissue requests – a capability that has the potential to drastically change the cancer research paradigm. As there is currently a shortage of mutation-characterized FFPE tissues available to researchers, iSpecimen is committed to solving this problem and intends to expand both the volume of FFPE tissue blocks sequenced and range of cancer types included in the program.”
iSpecimen has contracted with GENEWIZ from Azenta Life Sciences to perform the cancer panel sequencing and mutational analyses. Donors are carefully selected for the highest-quality results using data from iSpecimen’s Marketplace platform and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a landmark cancer genomics program and joint effort between the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute, to create profiles of specific stages and histological types that are most likely to present higher rates of mutations. The available gene panel consists of 161 mutations, including ALK, EGFR, KRAS, MET, NRAS, PTEN, RET, TP53 and more via the AmpliSeq for Illumina Comprehensive Cancer Panel v3.
As this program progresses, pre-screened samples will be offered for a number of additional cancer types, including pancreatic, renal, brain, ovarian, gastric, melanoma, bladder and prostate. In addition to FFPE tumor tissue, serum, plasma, flash frozen tissue, viably frozen tissue and Dissociated Tumor Cells (DTCs) will also be offered in the future.
To learn more, visit: https://www.ispecimen.com/finally-an-on-demand-source-of-mutation-characterized-tumor-ffpe-tissue-samples/.
About iSpecimen
iSpecimen (Nasdaq: ISPC) offers an online marketplace for human biospecimens, connecting scientists in commercial and non-profit organizations with healthcare providers that have access to patients and specimens needed for medical discovery. Proprietary, cloud-based technology enables scientists to intuitively search for specimens and patients across a federated partner network of hospitals, labs, biobanks, blood centers and other healthcare organizations. For more information, please visit www.ispecimen.com.
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