In a laboratory at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, Zhenghe John Wang and a team of researchers developed a panel of new human isogenic cell models, which look much like mutated cancer cells. Through these cell models, researchers can get a handle on how cancer takes shape in the human body.

"We actually created a technology where we can add tags into cancer cells so we can track them," says Wang, assistant professor of genetics at Case's School of Medicine. Not only can this technology help researchers to better understand how cancer cells evolve, it can also provide assistance with cancer treatment programs, Wang says.

Now this process has an even greater chance of affecting cancer treatments, as medical research company Horizon Discovery has obtained exclusive rights to the panel of new human isogenic cell models. This means that the British medical research company will be able to add this technology to its existing models, which are used to predict patient response to current and future drug treatments.

Horizon Discovery has licensed the new cell models for ten years and will pay Case an initial fee, with rights to royalties from future product sales.

"We really wanted to work with someone interested in this technology," Wang says, adding that the agreement with Horizon Discovery will allow for research on a grander scale. Meanwhile, Wang and his team will continue to advance use of human isogenic cell models at Case. "Hopefully, we can make a big impact on cancer research," he says.

SOURCE: Case Western Reserve University
WRITER: Diane DiPiero