Founded in 1961, the Antoine Lacassagne Center is one of the 18 French Cancer Centers of the Unicancer network. It fulfills missions of care, research and teaching in oncology. The Antoine Lacassagne Center treats all types of cancer and receives more than 6,400 patients per year. It is a private, non-profit institution.

The FUSAFE-2 international study is one of the research projects being conducted at the Antoine Lacassagne Cancer Center.  Supported by the French Ministry of Health (PRT-K), this study entitled “Search for a multi-gene signature to secure fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapies in colorectal cancer patients” relied on IntegraGen services.

Fluoropyrimidines (FP), 5fluorouracil and its oral prodrug capecitabine, are the most prescribed conventional chemotherapies for solid tumors, with around 77,000 cancer patients receiving FP-based chemotherapy each year in France. However, FP may induce severe toxicities, until death in some patients (Le Guellec C et al. Annals of Oncology 2019). European heath authorities currently recommend pre-treatment screening of DPD deficiency (mandatory in France) to identify patients at risk of developing severe FP-related toxicities. The aim of FUSAFE-2 meta-analysis is to identify additional genetic biomarkers for predicting very severe FP-related toxicities, in order to improve the sensitivity of current recommended tests, and implement in the near future an easy-to-perform powerful genetic test that would help clinicians to detect patients at risk of developing severe toxicities and thus adapt FP-based chemotherapies.

“The strength of the FUSAFE-2 study lies in its unprecedented scope. The research focuses on a large population comprising 3,500 colorectal cancer patients treated with FP. Sequencing of germinal DNAs, extracted from blood samples, was performed by IntegraGen, an OncoDNA group company specializing in genomic testing and data analyses solutions. Despite the substantial sample quantity, IntegraGen successfully conducted its part of the project in a timely manner. We were impressed with the professionalism of the teams, their services, and the performance of their processes, including the quality data process that includes identito-vigilance controls” said the project leader, Dr Marie-Christine Etienne-Grimaldi, Head of the Oncopharmacology Laboratory at the Antoine Lacassagne Center Center, Nice, France.

 

IntegraGen is an OncoDNA group company with renown expertise in genomic testing and software solutions for research and clinical applications. The company provides a variety of sequencing services to researchers trying to identify mutations in genetic diseases and oncology. It uses high-throughput sequencing technologies and developed proprietary analytical tools to be able to process high sample numbers in a fast turnaround time and to provide extra assistance with data interpretation. Discover more about our quality control system and experience.