The Need for Personalized Anticancer Therapy
An urgent need exists to find effective drugs for treating cancer patients.
Because of its high incidence and mortality rate, cancer ranks high on the list of the world's deadliest and costliest diseases. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 1million people will be diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and over 500,000 people will die as a result of the disease. The numbers are growing, driven by increases in early detection and an aging population. Overall annual costs for cancer in the U.S. were estimated at $189.5 billion for 2003, and this amount is still increasing. It is estimated that there are up to 6 million total patients with epithelial cancers, such as lung, prostate, colon, and liver cancer, alive in the U.S. today.
Cancer is a highly individualized disease. Targeted drug treatment is the preferred therapeutic approach. Unfortunately, the response rate is only 20-30%, and there are significant side effects. In addition, costs can exceed $30,000/year for one patient. Currently, there is no standard procedure for optimal treatment selection.
In response to these problems, CCCD is developing the Drug Response Indicator Test (DRIT), a diagnostic service designed to assist physicians in designing personalized treatment regimens for patients fighting breast, lung, colon, gastric, esophageal and pancreatic cancers. I The DRIT allows physicians and patients to exclude ineffective drug treatments resulting in optimal use of the time window for treatment, reduction of side effects and significant financial savings."The Need for Personalized Anticancer Therapy"
Company Description
CCC Diagnostics, LLC (CCCD) was formed in 2004 by a core group of former Johns Hopkins University researchers whose distinguished careers cover 90+ years of leadership in biophysics, oncology and imaging. The company's mission is to aid physicians in setting up a personalized treatment regimen for individual cancer patients by establishing drug response guides for selection of effective chemotherapy. CCCD is dedicated to "saving lives and life savings."
CCCD is located in the Caton Research Center, 3918 Vero Rd, Suite B in Baltimore, Maryland.