Helio Genomics, with Ochsner Health, presented cfDNA methylation-based biomarkers for HCC prognosis at the 2024 San Antonio Liver Cancer Symposium — awarded a top-three abstract, with Helio’s methylation score outperforming ALBI, GALAD, MELD, Child-Pugh and AFP.
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Helio Genomics (“Helio” or “the Company”) showcased results from its collaboration with Ochsner Health, demonstrating the utility of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) methylation-based biomarkers for assessing biological aggressiveness and prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), on Friday, October 11, 2024 at the 2024 San Antonio Liver Cancer Symposium. Dr. Shivani Mahajan, Head of Computational Science at Helio Genomics, presented a poster from the longitudinal study, “Cell-free DNA methylation biomarkers for evaluating prognosis and treatment response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.” Helio’s abstract was awarded as one of the top three abstracts by the Symposium Committee.
“We are thrilled to be one of three top abstracts selected at the San Antonio Liver Cancer Symposium. This award underscores the importance of having reliable biomarkers that can evaluate biological aggressiveness in HCC patients. In this study, Helio’s methylation score outperformed other established metrics in predicting patients at high risk of progression and in identifying treatment responders, demonstrating that cfDNA methylation-based biomarkers have both diagnostic and prognostic utility.”
“We were thrilled to collaborate with Helio Genomics, a company that is at the forefront of diagnostic technologies for early cancer detection.”
“Reliable prognostic biomarkers for HCC are lacking, and this study demonstrates that cfDNA methylation-based biomarkers have tremendous potential for addressing this unmet need in the field.”
Data Highlights
- In this longitudinal study cohort (n=108), all enrolled patients had been previously diagnosed with liver cirrhosis of varying underlying etiologies, and all received liver-directed therapies.
- Blood specimens were drawn at multiple time points starting at diagnosis (pre-treatment). Helio’s automated wet-lab platform, ECLIPSE™, was used to generate targeted cfDNA methylation sequencing data.
- A model using cfDNA methylation-based features (trained on a separate cohort to distinguish HCC from cirrhotic patients) was applied to the independent longitudinal cohort to calculate a methylation score for each patient at multiple time points.
- Helio’s methylation model score from pre-treatment blood specimens outperformed other metrics — including the ALBI, GALAD, MELD and Child-Pugh scores, cumulative lesion size, and biomarkers such as AFP, AFP-L3 and DCP — in predicting patient outcomes, and could accurately classify patients with low or high risk of progression.
- Patients who responded to liver-directed therapy showed a significantly larger decline in their methylation score than those who did not respond and progressed to advanced-stage disease.
- With biopsy contraindicated in early-to-intermediate-stage disease (BCLC A-B), circulating biomarkers/ctDNA provide the best potential targets for assessing prognosis, identifying treatment responders, and developing personalized approaches to treatment.
Helio was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Irvine, CA. For more information, visit www.heliogenomics.com or linkedin.com/company/heliogenomics.
About ECLIPSE™
The ECLIPSE platform is Helio’s proprietary laboratory process designed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of cfDNA methylation pattern detection and quantification by optimizing each step of the cfDNA methylation capture process — automated cfDNA extraction, library generation and enzymatic conversion, targeted capture and NGS. ECLIPSE uses an enzymatic conversion approach rather than traditional bisulfite conversion, yielding a higher quantity and quality of converted DNA.
About Helio Genomics
Helio Genomics is a commercial stage, AI-driven healthcare company specializing in diagnostics technology and test development for cancer detection. HelioLiver is a multi-analyte blood test that evaluates cell free DNA (cfDNA) methylation patterns, serum protein markers, and demographic information for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Investor Contact
Jeremy Feffer
Managing Director, LifeSci Advisors
jfeffer@lifesciadvisors.com
SOURCE Helio Genomics. View source version on BioSpace.