Tonight, I started watching a new session from the London Calling 2024 Clinical & Biopharma Day. The expert panel’s title was “Precision oncology: driving better outcomes for patients, health systems, and populations.” Olivier Lucas, the Director of Oncology with Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT), moderated the discussion. Four speakers began the session with brief introductions. William Stanford from Biography Health began by the introductions by describing how primary care providers work with Stanford and the team to perform a personalized medical analysis. Biography Health obtains consent and medical data, as much as they can, as well as a saliva sample. The sequencing information is used to obtain a polygenic risk report. The integrated risk score can be useful in helping patients and their clinicians provide care. Next, Clemens Jakobi from Lonza, Switzerland, is a pharmacist by training. They asked the audience if they knew when the FDA approved the first monoclonal antibody. This was rituximab in 1997! Jakobi explained that we now treat multiple diseases using monoclonal antibodies and genetic testing. Jakobi is excited about the possibilities. Luca Mazzarella from the European Institute of Oncology in Italy was the next panelist. Mazarella noted that, surprisingly, genetic testing is not frequently used for clinical decisions. They spoke about the importance of translating genomic data for clinical use. Mazarella used his research as an example: liquid biopsies could detect HPV-associated cancers. Matt Brown is the Chief Scientific Officer at Genomics England and a practicing oncologist. They spoke about sample collection and handling and how FFPA and fresh frozen samples compare regarding sequencing. Interestingly, RNA Later performs similarly to fresh frozen samples. Brown noted that this finding could help preserve samples for numerous projects. Brown also explained that the Genomics England website has excellent resources and datasets that can help researchers. Brown spoke about upgrading analysis tools used in the research world and sampling techniques so they can be used in clinical settings. They are hoping that these validated approaches can then be commissioned by the NHS in the UK. The Genomics England cancer datasets and biomarkers are increasing in size, with bulk transcriptomics and even spatial transcriptomics being added. Brown anticipates that the cost of spatial transcriptomics will decrease and that it could be used to replace histopathology in some cases. Brown also noted opportunities to learn about genomic diversity to better treat specific populations. The panelists have a broad range of experiences and answered questions from the audience. I enjoy learning about datasets and large initiatives such as Genomics England.
