CANCER blood-scan (CBS) is a newly formed consortium funded by the “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (EPAnEK) Operational Programme with academic leader Prof. Evi Lianidou, Professor of Analytical Chemistry – Clinical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, NKUA. The program is attended by Assoc. Prof. A. Psyrri, Attikon Hospital, Medical School NKUA, Prof. Ch. Papadimitriou, Aretaieio Hospital, Medical School NKUA, Prof. A. Stratigos, Syggros Hospital, Medical School NKUA, Prof. S. Kakolyris, Medical School DUTH, and the PHARMASSIST Company. The total budget of the project reaches the amount of 893.058 EUR and its duration is three years.
The aim of the CANCER blood-scan project is the development and clinical validation of innovative methodologies for the detection of cancer biomarkers by liquid biopsy approach. A key goal of the CBS-project is to "translate" the results of basic research into new commercially available products, leading to the application of personalized therapy by liquid biopsy into the clinical routine. To achieve this, the research team brings together experts from the academic community, clinical research and company, thus contributing to the development and commercialization of in-vitro diagnostic products / kits, with the aim of establishing liquid biopsy in clinical practice.
PRESS RELEASE
Workshop on: "LIQUID BIOPSY: Latest developments, possibilities and perspectives in modern oncology".
On Friday, January 27, 2023, a conference was held in the "Kostis Palamas" building of NKUA on the topic: "LIQUID BIOPSY: Latest developments, possibilities and perspectives in modern oncology". The Conference was organized by Prof. Evi Lianidou, Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Clinical Chemistry of the Department of Chemistry of NKUA and President of the Hellenic Liquid Biopsy Society.
Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive approach to monitoring cancer patients and is based on extracting important information about the progression of the disease through peripheral blood analysis. It enables the characterization and study of the heterogeneity of a solid tumor in real time, through detailed molecular analysis of its circulating genetic material in peripheral blood. Detection of specific biomarkers in peripheral blood at regular intervals by liquid biopsy is very important for treatment selection and patient monitoring. Liquid biopsy analyzes add another dimension to personalized therapy, as they provide the possibility of characterizing neoplastic disease at the molecular level to assess prognosis, as well as predict response or the development of resistance to targeted therapies, especially when obtaining biopsy material from metastatic foci it is not always possible for practical reasons.
The Conference presented all the latest technological developments in the field of liquid biopsy, as well as the possibilities and perspectives that this approach gives to Clinical Oncology, as well as its complementary role to classic tissue biopsy. Particular reference was made to the challenges of integrating liquid biopsy into clinical practice through quality control processes and laboratory accreditation. The prognostic and predictive value of the analyzes of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as circulating extracellular tumor DNA (circulating tumor DNA, ctDNA) in peripheral blood was highlighted. The latest research data on the role of CTCs in the process of metastasis and the importance of their molecular characterization for the early detection of lack of response to targeted therapies were also presented. Talks were given on the latest data from clinical trials of liquid biopsy for patients with breast, prostate, non-small cell lung and head and neck cancer. The very recent data investigating the clinical significance of liquid biopsy in thyroid cancer as well as in multiple myeloma were presented. The important role of liquid biopsy in the early detection of minimal residual disease in early breast cancer was discussed, and highly sensitive and specific technologies for mutation detection in liquid biopsy samples were presented. Finally, the role of liquid biopsy in the era of immunotherapy was highlighted with interesting clinical data.
The participation of distinguished speakers at the conference, such as Clinical Oncologists, Professors and Researchers of the NKUA, but also research centers abroad with excellent speeches contributed to lively discussions with the participants. The conference was attended by 73 people from the University and Research community. Important was the kind sponsorship and support of companies related to the subject (Roche, Interlab, Astra-Zeneca, Biodynamics, ELPEN), to which we are especially grateful.
The aim of the Hellenic Liquid Biopsy Society (https://hsliquidbiopsy.wixsite.com/2021) is to establish this conference on an annual basis with the aim of reviewing the developments in the field of liquid biopsy at a research, technological and clinical level as well as discussion challenges and issues related to its integration into clinical practice.
5th ACTC Advances in Circulating Tumor Cells, 22-25 September 2021, Kalamata, Greece
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
It is really a hard time for all and I really hope that you and your beloved ones are doing well and that we will be out of this COVID-19 pandemic disaster soon. We had to spend a long time communicating remotely with each other and attending virtual meetings.
Since the vaccination program has successfully started in most countries around the world, and based on the fact that everyone working in Health Care will be soon vaccinated, we plan to have the 5th ACTC meeting “Liquid Biopsy in its best” live, but only for those that will have received COVID-19 vaccination by September 2021. We will also provide an on-site complimentary RT-qPCR highly sensitive saliva testing for all participants that are not vaccinated by September 2021. This in combination with the negative RT-qPCR test that will be required as expected in order to fly to Greece will guarantee that the meeting environment will be safe and COVID-19 free!
The 5th ACTC meeting (www.actc2021.org) will be held as initially planned in the beautiful town of Kalamata, Peloponnese Greece, on September 22nd– 25th 2021. World recognized pioneer researchers and clinical oncologists that have major contributions in the field have already confirmed their participation. A critical mass of participants from all over the world will have again the chance to interact, establish collaborations and present their latest data in a safe, relaxing and stimulating environment. During intense keynote, oral and poster presentation sessions, state of the art and mostly unpublished cutting-edge research on the latest achievements, technical advancements and the latest results of clinical trials based on liquid biopsy will be presented. Three travel grants and three poster awards will be granted to the best submitted abstracts.
Most of you know already that all previous ACTC meetings were highly attended and very successful and that a lot of fruitful collaborations were established between world class leaders in the field, top liquid biopsy clinicians, researchers, postgraduate students and technology providers from all over the world.
It is now a great pleasure to invite again all of you to come, present, discuss and share the latest information on liquid biopsy. We aim to ensure that the 5th ACTC meeting will be highly safe, highly interactive and will stimulate intensive discussions between basic researchers and clinicians as well as Diagnostics and Pharma-industry companies that are active in this exciting field. Networking, live discussions and knowledge sharing across basic researchers, clinicians and Diagnostics and Pharma-industry companies are of great importance and we expect that this event will contribute towards achieving these after all this difficult time. It is also important to mention that the meeting venue (www.filoxeniakalamata.com) is right on the beach, the weather is expected to be perfect, all breakfast and lunches will be served outdoors, and the liquid biopsy technology exhibition and all poster sessions will be outdoors as well.
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Kalamata, in September 2021.
Warm regards,
Evi S. Lianidou
University of Athens, Greece
