Tumorgrafts are tested in a CLIA approved laboratory. The current generation of turmograft testing does not require additional FDA approval.

Tumorgrafts work for both the primary tumor and metastases. Grafts from primary tumors have been used to predict the likely best therapy in metastatic sites as well, with excellent responses.

In 2006, we saw a 60 year male with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He underwent extensive abdominal surgery to take out a cancer of the pancreas, but the cancer recurred 12 months after surgery. The patient was treated with the standard of care anticancer drug Gemcitabine for four months until the cancer began to grow, despite treatment.

We tested the anticancer drug Mitomycin C — which is rarely used to treat pancreatic cancer – on his tumorgraft. This treatment showed a significant response in the tumorgraft.

The patient received three cycles of Mitomycin C. His blood tumor marker (used to measure the tumor in the blood) was previously 98,000 and based on TumorGraft directed treatments was reduced to under 100. After 22 months he was treated with two additional cycles of Mitomycin C and three cycles of Cisplatin. His cancer remained in remission for five years. The average survival of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer is approximately six to eight months.

Not every patient will see similar results. This patient was fortunate in that (a) there were drugs available to combat his disease and (b) these drugs were identified as impactful by his tumorgraft.

Tumorgrafting has been used most extensively on solid tumors. Leukemias and lymphomas have not generally been used and are not currently taken for grafting and testing.

The quality of research done on tumorgrafts is outstanding and has been published in many peer reviewed journals. There is abundant information from many academic centers that tumorgrafts accurately reflect the important molecular changes in the patient’s own tumor and response to therapy. Champions (http://championsoncology.com) has published additional information on the accuracy and benefit of actually using tumorgrafts to help guide therapy for patients.

Tumorgrafts can help predict which therapy is the best from those tested for the individual patient. Tumorgrafts have been used to treat mostly metastatic tumors but an increasingly growing number of patients graft their tumor when it is first removed and localized so the graft is ready for testing if the tumor recurs or metastasizes.

Tumorgrafts can help at almost every point in the treatment process, but the earlier the better. Tumorgrafts generally take about 2-5 months to grow and expand. At this stage, testing can begin, and will generally take an addition 30 days. The earlier in the cancer diagnosis that the tissue is implanted, the earlier the results can be used to personalize therapy.

Every patient’s cancer is unique. Two patients with the same type of cancer will often respond differently to the same treatment. Tumorgrafts are pieces of living tumor tissue from a specific patient that are implanted (or grafted) into a mouse. Once the patients tumor (graft) begins to grow in the mice, it can be expanded in additional mice and tested against different cancer drugs. The graft can be used to personalize cancer therapy by finding the drug or combination of drugs that works best to shrink the tumor in the mouse. This information can then be used by the treating physician to personalize the patient’s cancer care.