New Hope For Personalized Medicine (NAPSA)—As one of the most popularly supported medical causes on the planet, breast cancer continues to garner over- whelming awareness from diverse sources across the globe. From cosmetics to cards, thousands of companies designate profits from certain products to be donated to breast cancer research. Charitable foundations continue to prosper as well; in its last annual report, the Susan G. Komen Foundation reported $330 million in public support and revenue. Now, individuals looking for an even more direct way to influence the treatmentof the disease can lend a hand by taking a simple online survey. “Breast cancer treatment options have historically been too generic and survival depended a great deal on chance,” says Simon Chin, CEO of Iris BioTechnologies, a company that works in thefield of theranostics. Theranostics is the process of using targeted diagnostics to guide personalized therapy for individual patients whose treatment involves testing them for possible reactions to new medications, then tailoring a treatment for them based on test results. The company has launched an international database of medical histories called BioWindows.“The goalof the effort is to have a diverse sampling of individuals complete a comprehensive online personal and medical history survey that will help doctors prescribing treatments for breast cancer patients.” Currently, the exact causes of breast cancers are unknown. What is knownis that hundreds of abnormal changesresult at the cellular level of breast tissue genes. Each patient’s set of gene alterations causes a unique form of breast cancer that should, therefore, be treated specifically for that patient. = Fg = a @ A more personalized diagnosis can help doctors cater treatment to the patient. The 60-minute survey takes into account both genetics and demographics in order to create extraordinarily detailed biological windows that the company believes will help identify prognosis and eventual prevention of the disease. By categorizing individuals according to their genomicprofile and lifestyle factors, Iris hopes to provide the building blocks for morepersonalized treatmentoptions. The company plans to eventually widen the application of the BioWindows platform to help determine the optimal medical solution for a variety of cancers, as well as other pathological conditions, ailments and diseases. “Breast cancer treatment stands to benefit a great deal from the information within the Bio- Windowsplatform, and we see the expansion into personalized treatments of other cancers as a natural progression,” says Chin. The company’s goal is to secure 1 million survey participants, at which point survey results will become accessible and statistically significant for doctors seeking to better personalize cancer care regimens. To learn more about the future of personalized gene expression medicine, or to participate in the survey, visit www.irisbiotech.com.
