Cancer is the second leading Cause of Death
Globally, about 1 in 6 deaths is due to cancer. In 2018 more than 18 million new cancer cases were reported, while cancer was responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in the same year. It is expected that the number of cancer cases will double by 2040.
An earlier detection of the tumor (including relapse of cancer) increases the statistical chances for the tumor patient to survive. It is therefore necessary to improve existing methods for cancer detection and to develop new technologies. Overcoming the significant problem of analyzing tumor heterogeneity (and its environment) would lead to significant improvements for the successful application of current and future precision treatments. This applies to both the initial (stratification of the patient before the start of therapy) and the detailed, longitudinal molecular characterization of tumors which enables effective sequential therapy (therapy monitoring).
Cancer diagnostics of today
Doctors can diagnose cancers in a number of ways, including taking biopsies of tissue where a suspected tumor might be, imaging tests such as X-rays, ultrasounds or MRIs, and screening tests such as endoscopies or colonoscopies.
Yet some of those approaches can be uncomfortable for patients, may come with hefty medical bills or are just not sufficiently precise to define and follow the best therapy for the particular patient.
In addition, several tumor diseases are detected too late to fight against them early on which statistically reduces the chance of survival (e.g. pancreatic cancer or lung cancer).
About liquid biopsy
Many cancer clinicians and researchers are exploring whether a cancer test could involve only collecting and analyzing a patient’s blood sample making it noninvasive, cheaper and more appealing for patients. These bodily fluids or liquid biopsies have the potential to help clinicians screen for disease, stratify patients to the best treatment, and monitor treatment response and development of resistance. Of all available analytes in the blood sample, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) are mostly utilized.
Telexos – What we stand for
Telexos develops products for the clinical cancer research market and for the personalized cancer diagnostics market. Focus of the developments is the detection and analysis of rare cells in blood, in particular circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and rare immune cells. Telexos started its laboratory in mid 2019.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) can be detected in all solid tumors and are shed into the blood stream early on. CTCs have the advantage that the information (protein, RNA, DNA) of the different CTC-phenotypes are not mixed with others but are contained. Therefore, changes within the mixture of phenotypes during therapy can be easier detected.
Since CTCs can be rare (e.g. 1 CTC in 10 billion blood cells) and quite heterogenous (reflecting the significant heterogeneity of the cells within a tumor of the same patient), it is mandatory to capture and analyze all available CTCs in a given blood sample. If not, important information in respect to determining the best available therapy and monitoring (and possibly adapting) the therapy in a personalized manner may be missed.
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Milestones
February 2019
Telexos received the first funding
July 2019
Telexos was selected for a grant sponsored by the land of Bavaria
August 2019
Telexos started laboratory activities
September 2019
Telexos signed a cooperaton agreement with the Fraunhofer Society