Perthera’s services are an example of the new personalized (or precision) approach to cancer treatment.

Pat Salber MD interviews Lee Barrett, Senior Advisor about precision medicine startup, Perthera. The company is focused on doing an in-depth analysis of a patient’s tumor, medical and treatment history in order to develop personalized recommendations for testing and treatment for patients and their oncologists.

Perthera clinicians collect tissue from the patients’ tumor that they send to their contracted labs for molecular analysis (genomic, proteomic, and phosphoproteomic). They then combine this information with data about the patient’s medical history and details of prior treatment of the cancer. They use their proprietary Expert Oncology platform to analyze the data and all available treatment and testing options to come up with testing and treatment recommendations personalized to each patient. Expert oncologists affiliated with the company oversee the process.

Because the company is only 3 years old, there are not enough outcome data for third party payers (i.e., health insurers) to cover their services, so, currently, patients have to pay out of pocket. Perthera is working on developing collaborations, such as the one they just developed with the Pancreatic Action Network, in order to enroll patients, collect data, and prove efficacy.

Perthera’s services are an example of the new personalized (or precision) approach to cancer treatment that is based on a molecular analysis of the tumor and a detailed understanding the patient and their medical/treatment history.

Watch the video to learn more.

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