New Delhi: CORE Diagnostics, India’s leading clinical laboratory is partnering with Silicon Valley-based CellMax Life to immediately introduce CellMax Life’s genetic cancer risk test and ctDNA-based liquid biopsy throughout India. The two diagnostic advancements hold immense promise to reduce India’s cancer mortality by offering personalized, precision cancer risk assessment and screening.
The rate of survival of cancer victims remains dismal in India. According to estimates, less than 30 percent of people diagnosed with cancer in India survive for more than five years after their diagnosis—an indication that cancer is not diagnosed until later stages, when it becomes difficult to treat them effectively.
The goal of the partnership between CORE Diagnostics and CellMax Life is to empower individuals with personalized and precision cancer risk assessment and screening to enable the earliest possible cancer detection and treatment.
Accurately assessing the risk of cancer relapse allows Oncologists to offer better customized treatments to patients, rather than adopt one-size fits all approach. On the other hand assessing the risk of cancer allows patients to undertake timely preventive measures.
Accessible, Affordable Precision Cancer Testing Urgently Addresses India’s Low Cancer Survival Rate
The partnership achieves this from multiple angles:
- CellMax-DNA Genetic Cancer Risk Test: a simple saliva DNA test to identify hereditary cancer risk.
- It provides an affordable and accessible saliva test to identify individual’s cancer pre-disposition, to help them preempt worst case scenarios.
- The test examines 98 genes across 25 hereditary cancers — currently the broadest gene panel on the market, while priced to be affordable to the largest possible number of families.
- Individuals can now better understand their and their family’s risk of cancer, and then work with their doctors for a customized screening and lifestyle plan.
- CellMax-LBx Liquid Biopsy: A non-invasive ctDNA blood test to improve cancer treatment management, monitoring treatment response, and screen for recurrence – in real time.
- This test analyzes a comprehensive profile of 73 genes from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Circulating tumor DNA are small DNA fragments shed by the tumor. Tumor genes may mutate over time, either as the cancer grows, or the treatment suppresses the cancer.
- Due to its non-invasive nature, the liquid biopsy is more comfortable for patients, and can be less expensive, than surgically-obtained tissue biopsies. Thus, oncologists can more easily obtain actionable, real-time pictures of their patients’ cancer mutations during treatment.
- The test can also be used to detect risk of cancer recurrence.
- CORE Diagnostics’ wide network of providers, oncologists, and support teams enable this precision cancer testing and support to be broadly accessible to every individual in India.
“The CellMax-DNA Genetic Cancer Risk Test, and CellMax LBx Liquid Biopsy products will be sold by Core as geneCORE Predict and liquiCORE Protect, respectively.”
“At CORE Diagnostics, one of our major goals is to improve the process of cancer diagnosis in India by introducing convenient, more accurate and predictive tests that allow oncologists to provide more personalized treatments. For example, if a test is able to suggest accurately that the risk of cancer relapse is low in a patient, he/she can avoid more rigorous treatments. However, precision and accuracy remains the key. CellMax Life has made tremendous advances in precision analysis of key oncology biomarkers for cancer risk assessment and screening. This enables CORE to make these compelling personalized cancer tests available across India,” said Zoya Brar, Founder & MD, CORE Diagnostics.
“CellMax Life is bringing early, non-invasive DNA cancer detection via affordable, accessible, accurate cancer saliva and blood tests,” said Atul Sharan, President and CEO. “CORE Diagnostics is unique in India because of its clear priority towardmaking next generation diagnostics accessible throughout the country, through its high-quality medical infrastructure and bold innovation”.