Radiation therapy : biomarkers and thérapeutic optimisation – RADIO CARE

DNA repair is a set of complex biological mechanisms that are highly deregulated in cancers and responsible for toxicity and resistance to various treatments. The INSERM U1030/Gustave Roussy Institute Laboratory and LXRepair have complementary expertise and common interests in this field and wish to join forces to valorize this know-how for the benefit of patients and the economic world.
On the clinical side, the personalization of oncology treatments is a necessity; it is based on objective and measurable markers that allow the treatment to be adapted to the specific profile of the patient. Radiotherapy (RT), the second curative treatment after surgery, has made remarkable progress in terms of technology, allowing for a very high level of precision, but is still far behind other fields of oncology in terms of adaptation to the biology of the patient. In particular, individual radiosensitivity, which can cause deleterious toxicities, is not taken into account.
At the level of fundamental research, a comprehensive understanding of repair mechanisms is essential, to better understand their relationship to cancer and its treatments.
The RADIOCARE laboratory leverages IGR's excellence in radiotherapy, shared know-how and LXRepair's disruptive testing platform to 1. develop clinical biomarkers to improve medical practice and 2. Generate new knowledge around patient biology.
The program is divided into 2 axes. Axis 1 aims at prospectively confirming the first functional biomarkers of radiosensitivity of healthy tissues for a series of epidermoid cancers. These biomarkers will make it possible to predict the occurrence of serious side effects to RT. A range of diagnostic tests will be developed (toxicity, then resistance). Biomarkers will eventually be integrated into radiotherapy optimization software. The results of Axis 1 will be valorized by diagnostic kits and predictive algorithms.
Axis 2, includes a series of exploratory projects providing new knowledge on the relationship between healthy tissue/tumor/DNA repair. It will integrate other key biological parameters (HPV status, hypoxia...) and clinical parameters, and will be completed by molecular analyses (cfDNA, RNA...).
The results of axis 2 will be valorized in the form of publications, increasing the outlets of the "research" tests of LXRepair.
RADIOCARE's integrative approach meets a strong clinical need and is based on a disruptive technological innovation with significant medical-scientific and commercial potential. RADIOCARE is based on close interaction between a hospital department, a research unit, a medical biology and pathology laboratory, and a biotechnology company, providing a strong opportunity to generate clinical proof of concept and to enable high-potential innovations. The hospital's perfect mastery of the regulatory and administrative framework required for this project will be a major asset for the success of RADIOCARE.
LXRepair expects to accelerate the development of its test platform for new diagnostic and research applications through the marketing of kits and services. LXRepair's predictive markers will eventually be integrated into other modeling tools used in radiotherapy for the benefit of patients. Future applications will involve treatments combining radiotherapy (RT), chemotherapy (CT) and other drugs (repair inhibitors). Putting together the cutting-edge expertise between partners will enable major advances in the highly competitive area of oncology.