Research Areas

Precision Medicine

With an aim to customize treatment plans for individual patients, Karkinos foundation is studying various solid cancers using integrated genomics and proteomics approaches to develop drugs that are specific to patient mutations. Other aspects of precision medicine research include, neoantigen discovery and use of machine learning and big data analytics to predict patient risk.

Biomarker Discovery

We are employing various techniques, including genomics, proteomics and phosphoproteomics to discover and characterize new biomarkers for wide variety of cancers. Additionally, our biomarker discovery efforts are increasingly focused on identifying non-invasive or minimally invasive biomarkers using liquid biopsy methods from blood or saliva, that can be easily obtained and analyzed in clinical settings. The research at Karkinos foundation works with cutting edge tools and techniques to identify diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in cancer.

Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Karkinos Foundation is actively involved in various research initiatives involving detection of early diagnosis markers and markers in response to therapy. Using longitudinal sampling of patients before and after treatment at various intervals and performing various cutting-edge technologies including NGS and proteomics, we aim to detect mutational and expression markers for relapse and prognosis. The Karkinos team members are also attempting to elucidate the mechanisms of therapy resistance in different solid cancers treated with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapies.

Liquid Biopsy

The research team at Karkinos is leveraging blood-based liquid biopsy to study easy cancer detection, monitor disease progression and help in guiding treatment regimes. We are also studying the mutational profiles of ctDNAs from patients and creating custom mutation panels for personalized treatment plans. Isolation and characterization of patient Circulation tumor cells (CTCs) is now a routine practice in the labs with a goal to monitor disease progression and response. At the Karkinos foundation, researchers are actively cultivating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and conducting drug efficacy assays to develop effective treatment strategies for patients.