Kelyon, a new EHTEL member, is a digital health company with a 12-year-long committed experience to improving cancer care, with specific focus on precision oncology.
Cancer is an ongoing threat
Every year in the EU, 3.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and 1.3 million die from it. Without action, cancer could become the leading cause of death in the EU by 2035. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse, disrupting and delaying prevention, diagnosis, access to treatment and overall cancer care.
The good news is that over 40% of cancer cases are preventable.
This is why, in February 2021, the EU renewed its commitment to fighting cancer by launching Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. This is an evidence- and innovation-driven approach to cancer care that focuses on: prevention; early detection; diagnosis and treatment; and quality of life for patients, survivors and carers. Through an interplay with complementary EU initiatives such as “1+ Million Genomes” and the upcoming “Cancer Diagnostic and Treatement for All”, the spotlight will be on personalised and precision medicine.
Precision oncology comes to the rescue
Precision medicine is a care model focused on tailoring and optimising prevention and treatment based on a patient’s genetics, environment, and lifestyle. The goal is to target the right treatments to the right patients at the right time.
Precision oncology applies these commitments to cancer treatment and care. In precision oncology, there have been several advances. First, came genetic testing for actionable mutations (such as the BRCA1/2 gene mutations in breast cancers). Then came next generation sequencing (NGS), which has enabled clinicians to test simultaneously many genes related to a patient’s cancer. NGS would, however, be meaningless in clinical practice without effective ways to interpret the huge amount of generated data. Now, the focus becomes on what is “actionable” – what are the main findings and areas on which to take action!
That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis come in, and digital health helps transpose genomics from research to cancer care. This is Kelyon’s great passion.
Kelyon conducts research on cancer therapy
Over the 4 years, Kelyon has supported the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) in creating a National Registry of actionable mutations in patients with advanced cancers. Together with Italy’s National Cancer Institute “G. Pascale”, the company is working on the Oncoterapie project. Based on the institute’s significant genomic dataset, the aim is to develop predictive models for targeted therapy optimisation.
Through computer-enhanced data analytics,is able to extract clinically useful information from NGS-generated genomic data, helping to optimise and tailor clinical decisions to the specific patient and cancer tumour. The data include: new cancer-driving mutations; predisposing gene variants; diagnostic and prognostic markers; and actionable mutational patterns (rather than single mutations).
Through its work, Kelyon is committed to helping cancer specialists – clinical oncologists – leverage the power of health data and AI. The objective is to improve cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, ultimately improving the lives of cancer patients, survivors, and carers.
For more info:
- “A multiple network-based bioinformatics pipeline for the study of molecular mechanisms in oncological diseases for personalized medicine”
- Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
- Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment for All
- 1+ Million Genomes
- 2020-2022 Roadmap of the 1+Million Genomes Initiative
