Kailos Iota -Liquid Biopsy Technology
Kailos Iota combines TargetRich, our foundational genetic enrichment technology, with next-generation sequencing and statistical machine learning that results in a highly specific cancer assay of multiple solid tumors at all stages. The Iota assay detects methylation differences in a person’s blood sample, the superior choice for early disease detection. The process of detecting these changes is called a methylated liquid biopsy and it can be used as a companion to standard imaging protocols such as mammograms and low dose CT scans among others. Because methylated liquid biopsies can be performed more frequently for screening, treatment and recurrence detection they are expected to improve patient outcomes and increase participation in screening programs.
What is Methylation?
Cytosine is one of the four bases that make up DNA. The addition of a methyl (CH3) group to the 5th atom in the ring turns it into 5-methylcytosine; this methylation of cytosine plays a role in regulating the expression of genes. For instance, when a gene’s promoter region is methylated, the expression level is often reduced. Kailos scientists evaluated thousands of pairs of samples with and without tumors to identify sites that are methylated differently between normal tissues and cancer.
TargetRich Workflow
Our patented workflow is designed to capture the sites that are differentially methylated and separate them from all the rest of a person`s DNA. All of the non-informative regions are destroyed and, importantly, the methylation status of each of the key regions is preserved. These regions are deeply sequenced before our data analysis pipeline assesses quality, determines methylation and classifies the sample as indicative of a tumor or not.
Clinical Studies
Along with our partners at world class hospital systems, Kailos lota is entering the first phase of clinical performance evaluation with studies designed to show accuracy, sensitivity and specificity when compared to the current standards in cancer screening. We look forward to announcing these partners soon and sharing the results as well!
Kailos Iota™ Liquid Biopsy Detects and Distinguishes Solid Tumor Types Using a Simple Blood Draw
How does Iota enhance current screenings?
- During a normal screening, such as a mammogram or low dose lung CT scan, a simple blood draw is collected.
- lota is used to test the DNA from the blood sample, looking for specific marks (methylation for the science nerds) on the DNA that are unique to tumors.
- Our proprietary cloud based analytics system looks for arrangements of these marks known as tumor signatures to identify the presence of a tumor and where it started.
- These results are combined with the mammogram, low dose CT or other imaging and enzyme tests for a more sensitive and accurate report.