Data Mining Techniques Could Improve Cancer Gene Therapies

A team of scientists from Purdue University and other research institutions around the world leveraged data mining techniques to better understand trends in the gene therapy field in respect to nonviral vectors.

With the global gene therapy market expected to reach $13 billion by 2024, researchers are seeking to understand as much as they can about how these treatment can target cancer and other diseases.

Purdue scientists joined forced with researchers from around the globe to learn more about the increasing number of worldwide patented innovations available for gene therapy treatment. The team focused specifically on nonviral methods, which use synthetic or natural compounds or physical forces to deliver materials that are generally less toxic than their viral counterparts into therapy treatments.

“The possibility of using nonviral vectors for gene therapy represents one of the most interesting and intriguing fields of gene therapy research,” said Marxa Figueiredo, an associate professor of basic medical sciences in Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine, who helped lead the research team and works with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization to patent her technologies related to health.

“This is an innovative method for identifying the technological routes used by universities and companies across the world and uncovering emerging trends for different gene therapy sectors.”

Scientists mined patient and clinical data to identify technological trends for the gene therapy field. The team expects that their analysis can help guide future developments for gene therapy.

“This work brought together investigators from very diverse disciplines to create a different perspective of the gene therapy field,” Figueiredo said. “Our groups continue to work individually or in collaboration to generate and patent new vectors to help fill the needs of this re-emerging field of nonviral gene therapy.”

Gene therapy has emerged as a promising way to treat complex conditions like cancer or Alzheimer’s. In January 2020, Maximum Life Foundation (MaxLife), a non-profit organization focused on aging research, announced that it would offer free gene therapy for ten patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

“MaxLife will grant 100 percent of the therapy costs to help bring pioneering gene therapy to cure this disease and make Alzheimer’s disease a thing of the past,” said David Kekich, MaxLife’s CEO.

“This technology could halt many of the big age-associated killers in industrialized countries,” said Kekich. “Compassionate care helps patients with no other option to get access to experimental therapies that may benefit both themselves and society as a whole.”

Researchers have also shown that genetic therapies have the potential to reduce the risk of diabetes development. A team from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) recently found that interventions focused on individuals’ genetic profiles can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in susceptible patients.

“The positive association between polygenic scores and type 2 diabetes we reported acknowledges the fact that people at higher genetic risk could benefit from additional strategies that have nothing to do with dietary fat intake,” said Jordi Merino, RD, PhD, of the MGH Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine, and corresponding author of the study published online in the BMJ.

“Our meta-analysis shows on a scale never done before that there is no apparent need to be concerned about the genetic risk to inform sound dietary recommendations for individuals with type 2 diabetes. This means that lifestyle or dietary interventions for the prevention of type 2 diabetes can be deployed across all gradients of genetic risk since genetic burden does not seem to impede their effectiveness.”