PMU Crete

Goal

FORTH, in close collaboration with the School of Medicine of the University of Crete, are proud to be key participants in the establishment of the Hellenic Precision Medicine Network. FORTH, along with the School of Medicine of the University of Crete (Department of Oncology and Translational Oncology Laboratory, Department of Hematology and Hemopoiesis Research Laboratory, Laboratory of Pathology) , will form the “Unit of Precision Medicine Crete” and will participate in Work Package 2 (WP2), the main focus of which will be the development and provision of high quality, state-of-the-art and personalized clinical diagnostic services in the field of cancer diagnosis, therapeutic management, personalized treatment and disease prevention.

General Information

Coordinator:
Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

Participating entities:
1. Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)
2. University of Crete Medical School

Scientific representative:
Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis (FORTH)

Main R&D activities

Over the next two years the main activities will include the development of methods of clinical, genomic analysis and advanced medical imaging technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, the use of basic research infrastructures for the provision of precision medicine services and the implementation of pilot studies for the evaluation of its results. In particular, the following activities will take place:

Biobank

Creation and operation of a state-of-the-art biobank for the safe collection and storage of biological specimens of blood and solid tumor tissue, along with the necessary clinical data from patients with solid tumors (lung, colon and breast cancer) and hematological malignancies.

Diagnostic Clinical Applications

Development and implementation of new genomic analysis technologies and services to detect gene mutations associated with disease diagnosis, prognosis or treatment. More specifically, analysis of genetic mutations associated with the development, diagnosis and treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies will be carried out. A significant number of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based genetic tests will be performed on samples of lung, colon and breast cancers, as well as on samples from patients with hematologic malignancies including Idiopathic Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance (ICUS), Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes including Myelodysplastic Syndromes. The diagnostic and therapeutic utility of NGS results derived from blood circulating tumor DNA samples (liquid biopsy) will also be investigated. NGS data from the blood liquid biopsies and tumor tissue biopsies will be analyzed comparatively. This study will help assess the utility of liquid biopsy sequencing data in cancer treatment. In addition, comprehensive patient follow-up studies will be undertaken.

Computational and bioinformatics tools and services

Development of platforms for the analysis and comparative evaluation of NGS DNA data from biopsies of histological samples or from liquid biopsies for use in early diagnosis. Design and development of databases for the safe storage of large volumes of genomic data. Development of bioinformatics tools for the management, processing, evaluation and presentation of clinical, imaging and genomic data and in particular for the correlation of genetic mutations with the response of patients to selected treatment regimens (pharmacogenomics). Development of an integrated and open environment for the synthesis and execution of Bioinformatics workflows/pipelines. Development of methods for extracting, highlighting and correlating biomarkers by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Tomography for the personalized treatment and follow-up of patients with neoplasia.