Two Biotech Support Group Publications are Cited in a Journal Article Validating the Prognostic Effect of the Tumor-Stroma Ratio
Biotech Support Group (BSG) reports that two of their joint authorship journal articles were cited in the supporting discussion from the research article

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Two Biotech Support Group Publications are Cited in a Journal Article Validating the Prognostic Effect of the Tumor-Stroma Ratio


MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ , May 7, 2024 -- Biotech Support Group (BSG) reports that two of their joint authorship journal articles were cited in the supporting discussion from the research article:

Polack, M., et al. "Results from the UNITED study: a multicenter study validating the prognostic effect of the tumor–stroma ratio in colon cancer." ESMO open 9.4 (2024): 102988.Polack, M., et al. "Results from the UNITED study: a multicenter study validating the prognostic effect of the tumor–stroma ratio in colon cancer." ESMO open 9.4 (2024): 102988.

Current treatment guidelines for colon cancer are traditionally based on extent of disease, expressed through the TNM (tumor-node-metastasis) classification, as well as risk assessments for patient outcome and expected benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT). However, the prognostic capacity of TNM staging remains suboptimal. So there remains a clinical need to improve individualized ACT indications upfront through additional prognostic biomarkers. For this, the TNM (tumor-node-metastasis) Evaluation Committee of Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and College of American Pathologists (CAP) recommended to prospectively validate the cost-effective and robust tumor-stroma ratio (TSR) as an independent prognostic parameter, since high intratumor stromal percentages have previously predicted poor patient-related outcomes.


The tumor-stroma ratio (TSR) is a histopathological parameter based on the amount of stroma expressed in percentages compared to the tumor epithelial component, and was initially developed in colon cancer, but has repeatedly been shown to be of prognostic value for almost all epithelial cancers. The article concludes that the multicenter UNITED study unequivocally validates the TSR as an independent prognosticator, confirming worse outcomes in stroma-high patients. The TSR improved current selection criteria for patients at risk of events, and stroma-high patients potentially experienced chemotherapy resistance. TSR implementation in pathology diagnostics and international guidelines is highly recommended as aid in personalized treatment. Importantly, future studies should focus on tumor stroma-targeted therapeutic regimens or strategies, as this study shows a lack of benefit of stroma-high colon cancer to ACT, revealing a clear clinical need for new treatment options for these patients. Similar to ACT, tumors with high amounts of tumor stroma also have been observed to respond less to immunotherapeutic strategies.


In the Discussion Section the article recognizes two BSG co-authored articles, stating “Many biomarkers have emerged in the past decades, as researchers are aiming to better predict tumor behavior and patient outcomes. One such emerging biomarker is liquid biopsy, measuring circulating tumor DNA strands in blood as a marker for minimal residual disease. Even more of interest is the study on tumor stromal liquid biopsy panels, capturing the tumor microenvironment 38.39.” References 38 & 39 are noteworthy contributions to the field.


38. Kuruc M, Zheng H, Sowerhardy A, et al. New strategies to categorize blood for proteomic biomarker discovery . J Proteom Bioinform. 2020;2: 90-107.


39. Ravensbergen CJ, Kuruc M, Polack M, et al. The stroma liquid biopsy panel contains a stromal-epithelial gene signature ratio that is associated with the histologic tumor-stroma ratio and predicts survival in colon cancer . Cancers (Basel). 2021;14(1):163.

From Reference 38, we describe how chronic illness manifests itself in blood and how we might study innate immunity to understand mechanisms that can potentially translate into new biomarkers and therapeutic modalities. We draw upon our own knowledgebase of proteome information reportable after BSG’s depletion or enrichment products in LC-MS/MS workflows and how this knowledge can be utilized in new strategies for biomarker discovery from blood samples. We note that BSG’s products have simply and efficiently reduced the abundance of Albumin and Immunoglobulin allowing for cost-effective workflows, without the use of antibody-based depletion methods.


From the Reference 39, we highlight key results.

 Ravensbergen CJ, Kuruc M, Polack M, et al. The stroma liquid biopsy panel contains a stromal-epithelial gene signature ratio that is associated with the histologic tumor-stroma ratio and predicts survival in colon cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2021;14(1):163.

In addition to patient prognosis, high stromal-epithelial gene signature ratio-risk scores were associated with an increased proportion of Microsatellite instability (MSI) in comparison to low ratio-risk scores. Given the increased proportion of MSI in the high ratio risk score group, the signature ratio might be predictive of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy response in colon cancer and should be the subject of future studies in ICI therapy-treated patient cohorts.

This report provides a first theoretical framework for proteomic signatures to potentially serve as an indicator for tumor-stroma content when applied in liquid biopsy. Ultimately, the stromal conditioning protein blueprint, as captured by the SLB panel, may provide a more refined stratification of the tumor and patient prognosis, and offer new insights into therapeutic strategies that might beneficially modulate the tumor-microenvironment.


While most cancer research is focused on genomic mutations, even with the introduction of immuno-therapies, we still know very little about individualistic hospitality to uncontrolled cellular proliferation. The tumor-stroma ratio, developed at Leiden University Medical Center has been at the forefront in research on the microenvironment componentry of cancer. So it is very rewarding to see that our strategies towards liquid biopsy and more generally, systemic chronic inflammatory biomarkers, is being cited in groundbreaking cancer research, such as this. BSG set out to answer whether stromal conditioning was measurable in blood sera, to most if not all cancers, regardless of primary tumor, stage, or metastatic disease. This discovery research, followed from our initial proteome characterization of our Albumin Removal products, AlbuVoid™ in particular, and led to our panel of Stroma Liquid Biopsy™ proteomic biomarkers. Taken together, these articles support the clinical utility for stromal conditioning in cancer, as a further way to stratify patients towards the best treatment options. In the future we hope to correlate tissue level stromal conditioning and blood-accessible proteome level stromal conditioning and welcome collaborative inquiries for such investigation.” states Swapan Roy, Ph.D., President and Founder of Biotech Support Group.

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https://www.biotechsupportgroup.com/v/vspfiles/templates/257/pdf/StromaLiquidBiopsyWhitepaper02162022.pdf


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Keywords: colon cancer, tumor microenvironment, tumor–stroma ratio, stromal conditioning, disease-free survival, cancer pathology, Stroma Liquid Biopsy™



About Biotech Support Group LLC

Converging with cultural and technological disruptions forthcoming in healthcare, Biotech Support Group develops methods for cost effective and efficient sample prep essential for expanding proteomic analysis. Following a tiered business strategy, the company continues its growth in the consumable research products area. For this market, key products include: AlbuVoid™ and AlbuSorb™ PLUS for albumin & IgG depletion, Cleanascite ™ for lipid adsorption, HemogloBind™ and HemoVoid™ for hemoglobin removal, and NRicher™ for low abundance and family specific proteome enrichment. For more information, go to http://www.biotechsupportgroup.com


To explore collaborative opportunities in Stroma Liquid Biopsy™ or business development contact: Matthew Kuruc T: 732-274-2866 mkuruc@biotechsupportgroup.com