Kyoto University, SCREEN Holdings Co, Ltd, AFI Corporation, and Kyo Diagnostics KK have officially launched a joint research project targeting the development of innovative personalized cancer therapies. The project is designed to create high-precision in vitro technologies that utilize patient cells to predict the impact of different treatments. It has been established as a collaborative research course under the Industry-Government-Academia Collaboration Program operated by Kyoto University.
Cancer treatment generally involves the use of surgical, radiation, and drug therapies, which are administered in accordance with relevant guidelines based on scientific evidence. While pharmaceutical options, in particular, are increasing as new medicines become available, the nature of each patient's cancer can vary significantly. This currently makes it difficult to predict the likely effects of drugs before beginning administration.
Recognizing these trends, Kyoto University, SCREEN, AFI, and KyoDiagnostics have established a dedicated laboratory within Kyoto University's Medical Innovation Center. The facility will enable the partners to perform joint research leading to the development of new personalized cancer therapies that use the patient's own cells to accurately predict the effects of different treatments in vitro.
The project will utilize specific knowhow possessed by each partner, namely Kyoto University's advanced medical research knowledge, SCREEN's diverse imaging technologies, AFI's unique cell sorting and separating technologies employing microfluidic channels and electrode arrays, and KyoDiagnostics' unique spheroid culturing technologies, which allow cells collected from patients to be grown under conditions similar to those within the human body. The partners will work together to stage a series of demonstration experiments, with the goal of delivering a system able to predict the therapeutic effects of different cancer treatments in approximately two years.
With this joint research project, Kyoto University, SCREEN, AFI, and KyoDiagnostics hope to accelerate the implementation of innovative personalized therapies for cancer. Progress in this area is also expected to promote advances in related treatment fields, helping to address a variety of medical issues currently facing society.
