Dr. Hill's work has included serving as trial counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement suits involving breast and ovarian
cancer gene tests, radiology informatics, hospital information systems, orthopedic surgical devices, MRI diffusion tensor imaging, generic drugs in Hatch - Waxman patent litigation, and biologics in suits brought under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.
Genomics firm 23andMe is the first to receive approval for direct - to - consumer
cancer gene tests in the US, but will recipients misunderstand the results?
But as researchers pool data from thousands of
cancer gene tests, some of those benign variants may be reclassified as dangerous, or may become informative in ways that hadn't been anticipated.
Not exact matches
At last year's Brainstorm Health conference in San Diego, Bergh found himself sitting at dinner with Othman Laraki, the cofounder and CEO of Color Genomics — a company that extracts the DNA from a customer's submitted saliva sample and then looks for a set number of
gene mutations known to be associated with increased risk for developing certain hereditary
cancers or heart conditions (depending on the
test).
She chose that step because she had been
tested and knew she possessed those
gene mutations, which put her risk of developing breast
cancer at greater than 80 %.
The other, a former White House aide to President Obama,
tested positive for the BRCA2
gene mutation that has led to breast
cancer in her family for generations — and is taking aggressive steps to avoid the same fate.
By invalidating key parts of Myriad's patents, the court has removed a bar that prevented labs using new technology from developing and selling broader one - time
tests that search for all known
cancer risks, including the BRCA
genes, geneticists said.
The scientists were interested in understanding what factors influenced women to share
test results, particularly with their children, who might also be affected by the
cancer - conferring
genes.
If you have a strong family history of breast
cancer or other
cancers, your doctor may recommend a blood
test to help identify specific mutations in BRCA or other
genes that are being passed through your family.
With new
tests to identify women who are at heightened risk of breast
cancer, new drugs aimed at preventing allergies, and the discovery of new
genes that are key to the progression of conditions like Alzheimer's - to give just three examples - we are at the dawn of a whole new era:
The June 13 ruling was a victory for some: By the end of the day, two competitors were offering lower - priced
tests for the breast
cancer genes.
These findings allowed researchers to create a chimera virus: a mouse virus with a human viral
gene that can be used to
test molecules that inhibit human LANA protein in an animal model of disease, treating not only human herpes virus infection but also its associated
cancers.
To
test whether those
cancer genes help the cell survive, they tried blocking them.
Recent advances in the understanding of
cancer have led to more personalized therapies, such as drugs that target particular proteins and
tests that analyze
gene expression patterns in tumors to predict a patient's response to therapy.
It has used broad
gene patents to operate a monopoly over
testing for the two BRCA
genes, which when mutated can cause inherited forms of breast
cancer.
Since 1994, dozens more
genes have been found that increase a woman's risk of hereditary breast
cancer, but by how much is uncertain, confounding already complicated issues in genetic
testing and counseling.
Myriad Genetics owns the patent over certain breast
cancer genes, effectively giving them ownership over any
test involving the
genes.
Bloch's colleagues at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
tested the oils in
gene expression studies on lab - grown human breast
cancer cells and found that they could mimic estrogens, the primary female sex hormones, and inhibit androgens, the primary male sex hormones.
Since the Lung
Cancer Mutation Consortium trial began in 2009, many patients are now
tested for mutated or altered
genes before treatment.
Federal regulators approved the first direct - to - consumer
test for the BRCA
genes, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian
cancer, the agency announced on Tuesday.
Much like the association between BRCA
gene mutation and the risk for breast
cancer in women changed the approach to treatment / prevention, the identification of the Kallikrein 6
gene region may change the course of prostate
cancer care through a blood
test developed by the Lunenfeld - Tanenbaum Research Institute.
«Every woman with breast
cancer is now
tested for that
gene.
Genetic
tests for mutations in the so - called breast
cancer genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, may not reveal as much about
cancer risk as earlier reports have estimated, according to two studies published in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine.
This challenge arose from complaints made initially by breast
cancer patients who objected to Myriad's monopoly control over the
testing and interpretation of risks associated with these
cancer genes.
«In our experiments, our nanoparticles successfully delivered a
test gene to brain
cancer cells in mice, where it was then turned on,» says Jordan Green, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Women with a family history of two or more immediate family members (mother, sister, daughter) with breast or ovarian
cancer or with a positive genetic
test for mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2
genes may be advised to consider having both breasts removed, because they are at high risk of a new
cancer developing in the other breast.
Scientists have developed a three - in - one blood
test that could transform treatment of advanced prostate
cancer through use of precision drugs designed to target mutations in the BRCA
genes.
Multiplexed genetic screening for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)
gene rearrangements and subsequent biomarker - guided treatment is cost - effective compared with standard chemotherapy treatment without any molecular
testing in the metastatic non-small cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) setting in the United States.
They
tested these drugs one at a time for lethal interaction with 112 different tumor - suppressor
gene mutations in human
cancer cells growing in the lab.
Using in vitro, or
test tube, experiments, the researchers applied these chemicals to human
cancer cells to measure changes of estrogen receptor - and androgen receptor - target
genes and transcriptional activity.
Clinical trials of treatments for ovarian and related
cancers would benefit from knowledge of patients»
gene mutations, but in many trials, the cost of genetic
testing is prohibitively expensive, the brief says.
A new study suggest major
cancer genes play a bigger role than thought in childhood
cancer, potentially influencing surveillance, genetic
testing, and treatment.
«The good news is that this finding predicts that patients missing either
gene should be sensitive to new therapies targeting focal adhesion enzymes, which are currently being
tested in early - stage clinical trials,» says Shaw, who is also a member of the Moores
Cancer Center and an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego.
This
test may be particularly useful for patients with high grade serous ovarian
cancer because the mutated
cancer gene TP53 is found in more than 99 per cent of patients with this form of the disease.
In the past few years, Vogelstein and Kinzler have shifted away from discovering new
cancer genes to a less glamorous pursuit: using genetic
tests to detect common tumors as early as possible, when they are easiest to cure.
Further research could
test these
cancer stem cell
gene expression at the RNA and protein level in circulating tumor cells and biopsies from patients on trial.
Using clinical, genetic, and
gene expression data as filters to distinguish
genes whose copy number alteration causes
cancer from those for whom copy number changes are incidental, the team whittled down their list from 14,000 to a more manageable number, each of which they systematically
tested using genetic experiments in animals.
Kenwrick assesses the likelihood of an inherited cause by studying the family's genetic tree and medical history, interpreting existing pathology or genetic reports from
cancer patients in the family, and offering genetic
tests if particular
genes seem to be the likely culprits.
In fact, the well - known
test for prostate
cancer, the PSA
test (Prostate Specific Antigen), is based on one of the Kallikrein
genes, KLK3.
A study done by researchers at Fox Chase
Cancer Center shows that many relatives of patients who undergo
testing for a
gene linked to breast and ovarian
cancers misinterpret the results, and less than half of those who could benefit from genetic
testing say they plan to get
tested themselves — despite the fact that knowing your genetic status may help catch the disease in its earliest stages.
The researchers also
tested how the loss of HSF1 affected mouse cells carrying either of two
cancer - inducing mutant
genes.
If a woman with a strong family history of breast and ovarian
cancers tests negative for the BRCA1 / 2
genes, that does not mean her relatives are not at risk, says Daly — her siblings could still carry the
gene, or there could be additional
genes present that predispose them to
cancer that clinicians don't yet know how to
test for.
Mutations in known breast
cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 are identified in only approximately 20 per cent of women who are offered genetic
testing for familial breast
cancer.
In
tests on human breast
cancer cells and in special immunodeficient mice with tissue grafts, the scientists found that both agents interfered with
genes involved with breast
cancer cell growth, resulting in more
cancer cells.
Myriad Genetics has used broad
gene patents to operate a monopoly over
testing for the two BRCA
genes, which when mutated can cause inherited forms of breast
cancer.
When Lisbeth Ceriani, a 43 - year - old Massachusetts woman, was diagnosed with breast
cancer last year, her doctors recommended that she undergo genetic
testing to see if she carried mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2
genes that increase risk of breast and ovarian
cancers.
Myriad, which licensed the BRCA
genes from the University of Utah and others who discovered them, runs a
testing service to check for mutations that convey a risk for breast
cancer.
Fanta and his team used a commercially available
test to analyze levels of the
genes ERCC1 and TS in 41 patients with metastatic colorectal
cancer.
Most
cancers are curable if they are detected early, and the researchers are exploring ways to use
cancer gene discoveries to develop
cancer screening
tests to improve
cancer survival.
The researchers found that over 25 percent of index patients with normal results from commercial
testing of BRCA1 and BRCA2, but with families severely affected by breast
cancer, could be resolved by sequencing all
genes known to be involved in breast
cancer.