A MiRNA Company To Advance Cancer Diagnostics Program

A cancer diagnostic agent, currently in the final stages of development, has been designed to assist clinicians in identifying the origin of tumors that have metastasized throughout the body.

Clinicians need a definitive diagnosis of the site of origin of cancer metastases in order to effectively and efficiently administer optimal therapies for patients. Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) refers to a cancer where the type of the cancerous cells is not readily identified, or a diagnosis of origin is equivocal. This, in turn, makes it difficult for clinicians to administer the appropriate treatment. CUP constitutes 3-5% of new cancer cases, and ranks as the fourth most common cancer.

Rosetta Genomics (North Brunswick, NJ, USA), a microRNA company, has signed an agreement with Columbia University Medical Center to advance its lead cancer diagnostic. Under the terms of the agreement, Columbia University Medical Center (New York, NY, USA) will utilize its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified laboratory to perform clinical validation of the company's lead diagnostics program for Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP). Rosetta Genomic is developing several microRNA-based diagnostics at its R&D facilities in Israel and the United States.

Under the terms of the agreement, Rosetta Genomics will provide Columbia University Medical Center with its proprietary protocol for diagnosing the primary origin of metastatic cancers, which will then be tested and validated using unknown (blinded) samples provided by the medical center.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as protein regulators and have the potential to form the basis for a new class of diagnostics and therapeutics. Since many diseases are caused by the abnormal activity of proteins, the ability to selectively regulate protein activity through miRNAs could provide the means to treat a wide range of human diseases. In addition, miRNA expression levels have been shown to be correlated with various disease states and to hold significant potential as diagnostic and prognostic markers


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Rosetta Genomics
Columbia University Medical Center