On November 14, 2022, at the National Convention of Cancer Centers in Paris, the 8th Unicancer Innovation Awards took place. Dr Raphaël LEMAN, biologist at the Cancer Biology and Genetics Laboratory of the Centre François Baclesse in Caen, and Dr Dominique VAUR, Laboratory Manager, were awarded the Unicancer Prize in the "Access to Innovation" category for their GIScar (Genomic Instability Scar) test. The trophy was presented to them by Pr Frédérique PENAULT LLORCA, Deputy Chairman of Unicancer.
What is GIScar?
A new genetic test to identify patients with aggressive ovarian cancer whose tumors can be treated with targeted therapy.
GIScar, for "Genomic Instability Scar", is the very first academic molecular biology test developed in France to guide the therapeutic management of women with aggressive ovarian cancer (high-grade serous cancer), so that they can benefit from targeted therapy.
Its operating principle
Aggressive ovarian cancers with defective homologous recombination DNA repair (HDR) are sensitive to the combination of bevacizumab and olaparib (as demonstrated by the PAOLA-1 trial).
These repair defects generate tumor genomic scars.
After tumor biopsy, this new method of high-throughput sequencing of a panel of genes can detect these scars, and thus identify patients who could benefit from targeted therapy with olaparib.
Who is it for?
Ovarian cancer accounts for 5,200 new cases per year in France (INCa 2022 figures). Ovarian cancer often begins silently. As a result, the vast majority of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage of their cancer.
The population concerned by the GIScar test represents around 4,000 women a year. Initial results suggest that one out of every two patients tested could benefit from this targeted PARP inhibitor treatment.
What's in it for the patients concerned?
" Previously, the new PARP inhibitor treatment was only offered to women with ovarian cancer who had mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes responsible for a predisposition to breast and/or ovarian cancer. GIScar makes it possible to offer effective treatment to around twice as many women with aggressive ovarian cancer, than would be the case if only BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations were sought.
Patients with GIScar-positive ovarian tumors treated with PARP inhibitors see their overall survival double ," explains Raphaël LEMAN, biologist at the Centre Baclesse.
What makes this test innovative?
In addition to its accuracy in targeting patients who could benefit from treatment with bevacizumab and olaparib, it can be easily implemented in laboratories, particularly those of cancer centers, at a controlled cost.
Having been developed for academic purposes, to advance science and not for commercial reasons, GIScar can be made available to other healthcare establishments via a SAAS (Software As A Service) solution, making it easy to distribute.
GIScar, a collaborative academic initiative
Under the aegis of the François Baclesse Cancer Biology and Genetics Laboratory, headed by Dr. Dominique VAUR, this project was developed in collaboration with cancer centers in Angers (Institut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest), Villejuif (Institut Gustave Roussy), Lille (Centre Oscar Lambret) and the Pitié-Salpétrière hospital. These collaborations enabled us to increase the number of samples used to validate the GIScar technique, and to assess its robustness on tumours sequenced by laboratories other than our own.
This work would not have been possible without the support of the ARCAGY-GINECO research group, which provided us with 469 DNA samples from patients in the PAOLA-1 study.
GIScar, a recognized test
The GIScar test has been successfully validated at technical level by comparison with the reference method, and at clinical level using ARCAGY-GINECO data. It was also the subject of an oral presentation at the 2022 Genetics Conference, a poster presentation at the European Human Genetics Conference 2022 (ESHG) and a presentation at the 2022 Congress of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO).
" We wanted to provide our colleagues in French hospitals with an easily accessible and inexpensive test, enabling them to offer women with ovarian cancer a particularly effective innovative treatment. The award we have received today illustrates the relevance of our approach of constantly seeking innovation, which is in the DNA of cancer centers ", explains Dr Dominique VAUR, Head of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Laboratory at the Centre Baclesse.
" We are particularly proud and honored to receive this national distinction, which recognizes the excellence of our day-to-day work in the service of patients," says Pr Marc-André MAHE, General Manager of the Centre Baclesse.
