Agencourt^® Genomic Services Plays Key Role in New Studies of Brain and Pancreatic Cancers

Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, a Beckman Coulter company, announced today that its Genomic Services provided sequencing for whole-genome scanning in two Johns Hopkins studies to be published this week in Science Express. In both studies, Agencourt employed Sanger sequencing technology for high-throughput discovery of gene mutations associated with specific cancers. The two new studies are part of an ongoing collaboration between Agencourt and Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, which announced the discovery of 200 genes linked to breast and colon cancers in 2007. James Hartigan and Douglas Smith of Agencourt were among the authors of the new papers and worked closely with the study leader, Dr. Victor Velculescu.

The first paper, "An Integrated Genomic Analysis of Human Glioblastoma Multiforme," reports a study of the most common and lethal type of brain cancer. Agencourt and the collaborative group sequenced 20,661 protein-coding genes from human tumor samples. The findings include the discovery of a variety of genes that were not previously known to be altered in glioblastoma multiformes (GBMs). Additionally, certain mutations were found in a large fraction of young patients and in most patients with secondary GBMs that were also associated with an increase in overall survival. The work has the potential to aid in the characterization of human brain cancer and in the development of future diagnostics and therapeutics.

The second study, "Core Signaling Pathways in Human Pancreatic Cancers Revealed by Global Genomic Analyses," examined the genetic makeup of 24 human pancreatic cancers. Agencourt and the collaborative group sequenced 23,219 transcripts representing 20,661 protein-coding genes. Supporting microarray SNP detection helped define a core set of 12 cellular signaling pathways and processes that were altered in 67 to 100 percent of the studied tumors. Dysregulation of these core pathways and processes through genetic mutation may explain pancreatic tumorigenesis.

"We are pleased to contribute to this groundbreaking cancer research work," commented Douglas Smith, Director of Science and Technology for Agencourt Bioscience. "This work clearly demonstrates the power and efficiency of our high-throughput, Sanger-based pipeline for genome-wide exome scanning and mutation discovery."