Strand, Kidwai and IISc Collaborate in a Breast Cancer Research Study

Online, December 17, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Bangalore, India - Strand Life Sciences (Strand), a technology pioneer in the practice of scientific intelligence in health sciences, today announced a collaboration with Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (ranked one among the top 5 cancer centers in the country) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc - India's premier science research institute), to conduct an in-depth "molecular omics" study of breast cancer in the Indian population. This research program is aimed at identification and validation of molecular signatures and biomarkers for Indian breast cancer patients.

The integrated molecular omics study addresses a significant medical need in India, where breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women. Over the last decade, the incidence of breast cancer is on the rise and has over taken cervical cancer incidence in all urban centres' including Bangalore (NCRP report - Time Trends in Cancer, Incidence Rates 1982 - 2005). An alarming indication of the trend suggests that one in every 22 women in India is likely to suffer from breast cancer in the coming year. Recent data also suggests that a startling number of pre-menopausal, young Indian women are falling victim to the deadly disease. This data is in stark contrast to that of Caucasian women who suffer from breast cancer mostly, post-menopause.

The study involves over 300 consented adult Indian women who suffer from breast cancer. The objective of this study is to largely generate prognostic molecular signatures responsible for response to various therapies and treatments, metastasis, relapse and disease-free survival of affected Indian women.

Strand plans to compare the publicly available data from Caucasian and African cohorts with data obtained at the end of this study. Further it will utilize these results to develop and identify biological markers that can characterize subtypes and develop suitable diagnostic kits towards therapeutic prognosis predictions.

"It is for the first time in India that such a detailed study of molecular signatures is being undertaken to understand the occurrence and prevalence of breast cancer in the country, said Dr. Vijay Chandru, Chairman and CEO, Strand Life Sciences. The objective of this study is to enable groundbreaking research that holds promise to make new, potentially lifesaving discoveries for the Indian population, and we are honored to play a part in unlocking that discovery."

Dr. Geetashree Mukherjee (Dept. of Pathology), at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, stated "Breast cancer is no longer a single disease, but a compilation of several different & unique subtypes as defined by gene expression studies. She further added that our department sees around 1000 breast cancer tissues every year. In some ways, our cases are biologically different. For example, we see more of ER negative subtype (clinically aggressive) than Western Populations. It will be worthwhile to aim at fully characterizing the clinicopathologic features with molecular features in our patients. This will advance the development of treatment strategies aimed at improving outcomes for patients diagnosed with this aggressive disease."

The project team in Bangalore will use breast tumor samples provided by the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and profiled by Professor P. Kondaiah's lab at IISc, Bangalore. Strand's in silico data analysis tools and bioinformatics expertise will be leveraged by the team to find and validate potential signatures that could lead to biomarkers.

"The aim of this collaboration is to bring together the excellent skills possessed by each of the partners namely IISc's expertise on the molecular analysis of gene expression, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology team's clinical excellence in breast cancer diagnosis and care and the skills of Strand in in silico analysis of microarray data. Synergy of these three experienced partners is expected to yield significant insights into the biological behavior of breast cancers and eventually lead to better patient management and care," said Professor P. Kondaiah, Molecular reproduction, Development and Genetics lab at IISc, Bangalore.

About Strand Life Sciences

Strand is a privately held company that has pioneered the practice of scientific intelligence in the health sciences. Leveraging its unmatched interdisciplinary scientific expertise with its decision enabling technologies, Strand empowers biomedical and research scientists gain deep insights from raw data. Strand offers products and services in the areas of omics-based technologies, drug discovery, predictive systems modeling and knowledge management.

Seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies, three of the top six biotechnology companies, and numerous academic institutions across the globe, are part of Strand's esteemed customer profile. Strand is a portfolio company of UTI Venture Funds, Sequoia Capital, and MediBIC group (Japan).

About Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore

Established on 1973, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology was founded in memory of Mr. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai. The Institute attained the status of an autonomous institution in 1980 and became one of the 11 regional cancer centers (RCC) in India.

The Institute offers a wide range of cancer research and provides modern facilities for cancer diagnosis, treatment, palliation and rehabilitation.

About Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics (MRDG) lab at IISc, Bangalore

The laboratory of Prof. Kondaiah at the MRDG department of IISc is basically involved in biomarker discovery for diagnosis and prognosis of complex human diseases, particularly human cancers and pre cancerous conditions. The laboratory has infrastructure and expertise for global gene expression studies using microarray and other high throughput techniques.