Cancer Diagnostics: Detection In Time For Action Webinar 1 - ctDNA as an Early Detection Biomarker

Early treatment is paramount in the fight against cancer, and rapid diagnosis is key to achieving this. This webinar series will delve into the recent progress, challenges and solutions faced in precision cancer diagnostics. Fresh advances in technology, new biomarkers and the emerging field of multi-omics in precision diagnostics are all addressed and explored.

This webinar series will address:

• What we can gain from utilising ctDNA as a biomarker in clinical practice.
• How advances in PCR technologies are supporting earlier detection of cancers, ideally before metastasis, when quantifiable biomarkers are scarce. It will demonstrate how dPCR can help improve sensitivity and build confidence in this type of screening.
• How multi-omics approaches can be utilised to support rich molecular profiling to influence clinical decision making, and whether this technique is cost-effective in-patient care.

Webinar 1: ctDNA as an Early Detection Biomarker

Thursday 12th October at 3pm BST/ 4pm CET / 10am EDT

This webinar aims to cover the techniques and obstacles surrounding ctDNA use in precision diagnostics. ctDNA appears clinically promising, but challenges such as its short half-life, its difficulty to detect, and low yields combined with the sheer number of possible mutations mean its use is not as simple as it sounds. Join us as we address these challenges, with successful case-studies providing solutions.

Talk 1: Piloting and assessing the clinical utility of ctDNA testing for lung cancer in the NHS

Alastair Greystoke, Medical Oncologist, Newcastle’s Northern Centre for Cancer Care

Talk 2: ctDNA tests for early detection- evidence needed to enable implementation into the NHS

Joanna Janus, Research Programme Manager (Early Detection & Prevention), Cancer Research UK

Webinar 2: Digital PCR to Support Early Diagnostics

Thursday 19th October at 3pm BST/ 4pm CET/ 10am EDT

This webinar will focus on the tool making waves in the field of precision diagnostics: digital PCR. The challenges digital PCR solves will be covered in detail, focussing on how it allows earlier diagnosis and more sensitive detection of ctDNA.

Talk 1: Clinical Utility of Circulating Tumour DNA Analysis in Breast Cancer

Isaac Garcia-Mullaris, Staff Scientist, Institute for Cancer Research

Talk 2: Getting De-Centralized Testing into Routine Clinical Oncology using High-Performance Genetic Multiplexing with Digital PCR

Martin Becker, Field Applications Scientist, Stilla Technologies

Talk 3: Applying digital PCR and measurement science to support early cancer detection and MRD: the GenomeMET project

Alison Devonshire, Principal Scientist (Nucleic Acid Metrology), UK National Measurement Laboratory

Webinar 3: Multi-omics in Precision Diagnosis and Oncology

This webinar will look at how multi-omics could be used to identify biomarkers for earlier diagnosis, for insights into molecular pathways, and to better understand the relationship between genotype and phenotype in cancer. Is using multi-omics more sensitive that using single-omics biomarkers for earlier detection?

Talk 1: Using multi-omics to detect biomarkers in urine: a new, less invasive frontier for bladder cancer.

Pradeep Singh Chauhan, Staff Scientist, Aadel Chaudhuri Lab, Washington University at St. Louis

Talk 2: Refining liquid biopsy: generating more information from cell-free DNA

Tim Beech, Product Manager, biomodal

Talk 3: Using AI-guided digital pathology and multi-omics to discover biomarkers of early-stage pancreatic ductal Adenocarcinoma

Shalini Datta, Research Fellow, Johns Hopkins University