7:00 am Registration & Morning Networking Coffee
7:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Illuminating the Triumphs of Liquid Biopsy & Future Directions to Empower Precision Oncology
8:00 am Harnessing Liquid Biopsies to Transform Cancer Treatment Selection, Monitoring & Early Detection & Empower Precision Treatments
Synopsis
- Reviewing current and future liquid biopsy assay use in cancer care, including early detection and molecular residual disease
- Discussing recent collaborative frameworks and standards for best practices in liquid biopsy assay validation
- Enabling broad access to liquid biopsy assays and global harmonization of regulatory requirements
- Looking at what’s on the horizon: emerging trends in liquid biopsy assay development
8:30 am Introducing an Improved ctDNA Tumor Fraction Method to Add Value in Translational Research, Clinical Trials & CDx Development
Synopsis
• Discussion on the value of ctDNA monitoring for research and clinical trial programs, including both early- and late-stage disease for MRD and treatment response
• Confidence in negative results from a liquid biopsy test, now possible for wild-type biomarkers in trial enrolment
• New data on the value of ctDNA tumor fraction in lung, breast, bladder, and kidney cancers
9:00 am Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Panel Discussion: Creating Awareness Amongst Decision-Makers on Local & Global Disparities in Liquid Biopsy Research & Practice to Shape an Inclusive Future for Understudied Diseases
Synopsis
- How is the potential and utilization of liquid biopsies for new indications benefitting patients from diverse backgrounds?
- Why are certain populations underrepresented in studies harnessing liquid biopsy?
- What is being done to overcome the historical disparities and inequalities in liquid biopsy trials?
- How can the ED&I challenges be overcome by global and cross-sector stakeholder collaboration for liquid biopsy research?
9:30 am Highly Sensitive Tissue-free ctDNA Detection for MRD & Response Monitoring
Synopsis
- Overcoming challenges of today’s MRD and monitoring tests
- New data showing high sensitivity with epigenomics-based MRD and response monitoring
- Uncovering novel predictions of response to therapy to better stratify patients
10:00 am Using Cell-Free RNA to Increase the Clinical Versatility of Liquid Biopsy
Synopsis
• Using cfRNA in predicting diagnosis and prognosis
• Using cfRNA to enhance detection of minimal residual disease (MRD)
• Using cfRNA to predict flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry findings
10:30 am Morning Break & Speed Networking
Track A : Early Translation
Chair: Aarti Tarkar, Associate Director, Experimental Medicine Unit, GSK
Identifying Signatures & Predictive Biomarkers Using Ultrasensitive Detection for Enhanced Diagnosis & Prognosiser
11:30 am Exploring TGF-β Signature as Predictive Biomarkers for Immunotherapy for Cancer Patients
Synopsis
• Exploring the key challenges in identifying biomarkers, touching on sensitivity and standardization
• Discussing best-in-practice methods of biomarker selection to capture biomarkers at an extremely sensitive level
• Reviewing successful case studies of biomarker selection
12:00 pm Unlocking the Future of Cancer Diagnostics: Next Generation Insights from Multiomic Liquid Biopsy Tests
Synopsis
Details to be Revealed
12:30 pm New Paradigm in Liquid Biopsy: In Vivo Early Diagnosis of Multiple Diseases by Detection of Circulating Markers Directly in the Patient’s Bloodstream with Cytophone
Synopsis
- Defining a new strategy for early cancer diagnosis with photoacoustic detection of rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a large blood volume (up to 1 L) with no blood draw.
- Clinical validation of 1000-fold sensitivity improvement down to 1 CTC/L by precise detection of CTCs in patients with stage I-II melanoma.
- Identification of single and clustered CTCs, cancer-induced clots, and CTC–clot emboli.
- Theranostics platform for real-time monitoring of personalized laser-mediated anti-CTC and anticoagulant therapy efficiency to reduce the risk of metastasis and stroke.
- Approaches for expanding to screening, minimal residual disease, recurrence, multiple cancers, infection complications, and cardiovascular disorders (e.g., thrombosis and pulmonary embolism).
- Solving challenges in standardization, marker variability, motion, and skin pigmentation.
Track B : Clinical Development & Commercialization
Chair: Pashtoon Kasi, Director, Colon Cancer & Precision Medicine Research, Weill Cornell Medicine
Leveraging Combination Therapies to Predict Response for Optimized Treatment Regimens
11:30 am Biomarkers & Assays: Landscape review of ctDNA in Lung Cancer
Synopsis
- Introduction into the clinical landscape for Biomarkers And Assays
- Overview of liquid biopsy biomarkers, including ctDNA, in lung cancer research
- A breakdown of the current liquid biopsy assay landscape
12:00 pm Access to Precision Oncology with Decentralized Liquid Biopsy Solutions with Sophia Genetics
Synopsis
- Understand the vital role of decentralizing liquid biopsy testing for early detection, patient identification, and treatment monitoring
- Learn about SOPHiA DDM™ Liquid Biopsy (LBx) Solutions and the power of our decentralized and technology-agnostic SOPHiA DDM™ Platform
- Hear about SOPHiA GENETICS’ collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and AstraZeneca, aiming to expand global access to advanced cancer testing and accessibility through MSK- ACCESS® powered by the SOPHiA DDM™ Platform
12:30 pm Building a ctDNA-Based Model to Predict Survival & Outperform Radiographic Imaging for Differentiating between Chemo-Immunotherapy Combinations in Early Phase Clinical Trials
Synopsis
• Assessing ctDNA across longitudinal time points in a randomized Ph III study comparing chemotherapy-immunotherapy combinations
• Using machine learning in a training/testing framework to jointly model multiple ctDNA metrics to predict overall survival
• Validating model utility for identifying high-risk patients in an external validation cohort with a different ctDNA assay
• Demonstrating model utility in clinical drug development as an early endpoint to detect differences in overall survival between treatment arms
1:00 pm Lunch & Networking Break
Evaluating Minimal Residual Disease & Next Generation Sequencing Tools to Predict Disease Response for Better Treatment Decisions
2:00 pm NeXT Personal™ for Ultra-sensitive Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) Detection & Response Monitoring
Synopsis
- NeXT Personal is an advanced tumor-informed liquid biopsy assay with superior sensitivity and specificity in measuring MRD
- Case studies in the Immunotherapy setting establish a strong correlation of NeXT Personal MRD with clinical outcome
- New clinical evidence from TRACERx demonstrates the significance of NeXT Personal in early-stage lung cancer and how ultra-sensitivity matters
2:30 pm What is the Future of Multiplexed Precision Therapy Including Trogocytosed Immune Cells?
Synopsis
• How the evaluation of minimal residual disease may influence a medical decision in hematological malignancies?
• Place of trogocytosed NK in the diagnosis and follow-up of rare malignant lymphomas
3:00 pm Gaining Insights on Tumor Clonal Evolution & Genetic Diversification Through NGS Analysis of CTC-DNA & ctDNA from the Same Blood Sample
Synopsis
• Review of epitope-independent harvesting of CTCs from blood for subsequent analysis
• Discuss CTC-DNA and ctDNA combinations as potential predictors of cancer progression, treatment resistance, and relapse
• New Data on the complementary nature of next-generation sequencing of CTC-DNA and ctDNA from a single blood tube
• Potentially enabling longitudinal disease monitoring in real-time to identify mechanisms of resistance in living cancer cells
Expanding Patient Access Globally to Precision Therapeutics by Successfully Integrating Liquid Biopsies in Clinical Trials
2:00 pm Transforming Oncology with Predicine’s AAA Liquid Biopsy Solutions – Global Clinical Trials & CDx Development
Synopsis
- LBx technology innovation in ctDNA and cfRNA, Breakthrough Device Designation granted by FDA
- Blood/urine/tissue-based NGS solution, including mutation and methylation-based MRD detection
- Global clinical trial and CDx development in the US, China, and the ROW
2:30 pm Incorporating Robust Endpoints in Clinical Trials through Careful Trial Design for Treatment Response Assessment
Synopsis
• Addressing phase I-III design strategy that integrates liquid biopsy
• Discussing the clinical utility of different endpoints in trials
• Understanding how endpoints enable patient stratification
• Examining the impact of having robust endpoints on treatment response options and decisions
3:00 pm Panel Discussion: Accelerating Access to Liquid Biopsy Testing Through Kitted NGS Solutions
Synopsis
- Liquid biopsy testing is an important clinical tool to help guide therapeutic management of cancer patients and, to date, has largely been led by large, centralized testing reference laboratories (e.g., Guardant, Foundation Medicine)
- To maximize global access to this important testing and associated targeted therapies, local and regional laboratories are exploring kitted solutions to perform this testing on their in-house NGS platforms in a timely and cost-effective manner
- External clinical evaluations of Pillar Biosciences suite of kitted NGS assays, workflow, cost and data analysis software provide a compelling value proposition for laboratories looking to internalize LBx testing, and pharmaceutical organizations interested in expanding patient access around the world
3:30 pm Afternoon Networking Break
Bridging Discovery & Translation for Clinical Biomarker Validation to Drive Wide-Spread Clinical Implementation
4:00 pm Using AI & Multimodal Data to Advance LBx
Synopsis
- Explore the transformative role of AI in advancing liquid biopsy
- How emerging technologies and big data have unlocked novel use cases for tumor-naïve liquid biopsies
4:30 pm Utility & Shortcomings of Leveraging ctDNA to Assess Molecular Patterns of Responders in an Early Prostate Cancer Clinical Trial
Synopsis
- Advantages of utilizing liquid biopsy for molecular profiling
- Challenges in assessing specific classes of gene alterations
- Current unmet needs in a nascent technology
5:00 pm 3D Genomic Liquid Biopsy: Predictive, Prognostic & Diagnostic Biomarkers
Synopsis
- EpiSwitch® 3D Genomic blood-based platform
- EpiSwitch Checkpoint Inhibitor Response Test (CiRT)
- EpiSwitch Prostate Screening Test (PSE)
5:30 pm The Future of ctDNA Dynamics: How Far Are We From Regulatory Use in Advanced Tumors?
Synopsis
- Discuss recent data in ctDNA dynamics/molecular response
- Potential regulatory use and challenges in clinical implementation
- Future directions for clinical adoption