Datar Genetics ties up with AHERF on biopsy for brain tumors

Datar Genetics Limited (Datar), a centre for molecular and genetic analysis, today announced a strategic collaboration with Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation (AHERF), a premier DSIR recognised organisation to validate liquid biopsy for brain tumors.
The collaboration envisages establishing a liquid biopsy platform for detecting Glioblastomas (GBM), one of the most aggressive malignant brain tumours in humans, a company statement said here.
Based on the diagnostic criteria provided by World Health Organization (WHO), Histopathological assessment has so far been considered the gold standard for identification of brain tumors.
However, the diagnosis procedure is not always precise due to substantial inter-observer variation, heterogeneous nature of tumors and complications arising from invasive cerebral biopsy. Management of GBMs remain challenging as there are no current curative treatments and therefore, mortality rates continue to stagnate at high levels, the statement said.

AHERF will provide Datar Genetics the necessary technical and clinical support for co-validation of the assay. For the same, AHERF has assembled a consortium of Apollo Hospital's Neuro-oncologists to conduct collaborative research to understand brain tumors.
The project is the first of its kind in India. This clinical collaboration will pave the way towards development and deployment of exosome based diagnostics by providing clinicians a non-invasive tool for prognosis, diagnosis, cancer recurrence and therapy monitoring, the release said.