Introduction to Oncompass

We live in the era of “big data” where we have access to billions and trillions of terabytes of data that are continuously generated each and every day. Due to recent technological advancements and their applications in various genomic and oncologic endeavours, we know about 600 potential cancer genes with over 6 million recognised mutations that may play a role in the development of cancer.

Analysing and interpreting this huge amount of data to reach a clinically significant decision by using traditional methods would be extremely time-consuming and carry the risk of failing to find the most suitable solution for the patient.

In order to navigate this steadily growing data, oncologists and clinicians need an additional piece of equipment… a compass that aids them in navigating this seemingly limitless amount of oncological data.

Compass as a solution for growing amounts of data in oncology

Oncompass is a corporation that’s services function as a compass to guide the fight against cancer. They use the latest cutting edge artificial intelligence technology to analyse data from all 600 cancer genes of whole exomes from a tumour. They use the insights obtained from that AI analysis to guide and support the treatment decision. Providing oncologists with these results can be extremely helpful in choosing the most suitable treatment path without wasting any time seeking a response from an ineffective therapeutic option.

Strategy of Oncompass: Testing, Analysing, Deciding

The role of Oncompass in precision oncology is to be the incredibly fast “only 2 milliseconds” navigator that can potentially direct oncologists to the best-tailored therapy in the vast sea of more than 6 million pieces of data. Eurofins Genomics, on the other hand, is the high-throughput oncological data generator.

Eurofins Genomics’ oncology solutions are perfectly suited for providing the essential data required for personalised interpretation and analysis by Oncompass.

1) INVIEW Oncoprofiling
A service that offers the simultaneous analysis of nearly 600 cancer genes to precisely detect all types of mutations. This provides Oncompass’s AI with the necessary data to recommend the most reliable pharmaceutical agent for patient treatment.

2) INVIEW Liquid Biopsy Oncoprofiling
With liquid biopsies, circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in plasma is sampled. Liquid biopsies are non-invasive and utilised for fast and precise analysis. The INVIEW Liquid Biopsy Oncoprofiling service is the first of its kind to make spotting of “variations in the structure of the chromosome” possible. Oncompass’s access to this service makes personalised medicine almost as easy as a little pinprick.

3) INVIEW Exome
For a better understanding of how beneficial the INVIEW Exome service is in providing data for clinical management, a closer look at the difference between germline and somatic mutations is necessary.

Germline mutations are inherited mutations that occur when a gene in a sperm or ovum becomes mutated and is passed on to the next generation. Thus, the mutation is present in every cell in the body. They’re often used as cancer predisposition markers.

Somatic mutations occur in a single body cell and cannot be inherited, so only tissues originating from this mutated cell are affected, and for that reason, they’re used as potential targets for therapy.

Difference Germline mutation, Somatic mutation

Therefore, determining which mutations are somatic and which ones are germline mutations is crucial to formulating an effective treatment plan. The INVIEW Exome service does exactly that by analysing and comparing the DNA of tumour cells and normal cells.

Supplying Oncompass’s AI with that kind of differentiating data significantly helps to guide the selection of the potentially most effective therapies.
Stay tuned for the upcoming interview with István Peták, the Founder and CEO of Oncompass Medicine.

By Abd-ElRahman Samhan and Dr Andreas Ebertz

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