Non-invasive Liquid Biopsy Analysis of Epigenomics Signatures in Multiple Cancer Types

Epigenomic changes in cancer cells can provide a rich source of biomarker signals for the detection of disease. As cancer cells manifest their epigenomic changes in blood due to cell death, DNA and protein molecules can be probed using specific molecular analytic approaches. Bluestar Genomics employs epigenomic technologies to measure dynamic changes in DNA demethylation events via direct measurement of 5-hydroxymethyl-cytosine residues in cfDNA. Companion assays are also run to provide information on cfDNA digestion patterns and protein-based changes in plasma. This information, combined in a machine learning framework, enable the provision of prediction models that report on the presence of cancer and the determination of the tissue of tumor origin. This study will build predictive models and test performance of these models to detect the presence of cancer and tissue of origin in several cancer type by using a matched case-control study design.