Something Small is Happening - And It's Pretty Big!                                

Small, Subtle Changes in Your Messenger RNA (mRNA) Can Identify Cancer Early - And We've Developed the Science that Finds Them

Most people think of cancer as changes, or mutations, in the sequence of DNA that lead to uncontrolled cell division. However, in between DNA and proteins (your cell's building blocks) is another layer of information called messenger RNA (mRNA) and it’s a crucial link to finding cancer. Changes in mRNA expression can be measured in blood and serve as specific early cancer indicators for cancer and other diseases. StageZero Life Sciences discovered this principle, named it the Sentinel Principle®​, and patented the technology platform behind it. The Sentinel Principle has already been used to develop the first liquid biopsy for Colorectal Cancer (ColonSentry®) and is the foundation of Aristotle® - our next generation test for multiple cancers.

Our Science

Our Patented Sentinel Principle Technology

The Sentinel Principle®, a platform technology developed by StageZero Life Sciences, is based on the concept that all clinical conditions and body states, including those resulting from disease or in response to treatment, generate characteristic gene expression signatures in the blood. 
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• As blood circulates, communication occurs between cells in blood and tissue.
• Subtle changes that occur in cells due to injury or disease trigger detectable changes in cell expression.
• Profiling these changes generates unique molecular biomarkers that reflect disease activity.
• These molecular biomarkers can be used to identify disease-specific signatures.
• Gene expression signatures are discrete and specific to each disease state.

The Sentinel Principle was used to develop our first commercial test, ColonSentry, which was validated on 9,000+ patients in a North American study. (4)

Colonsentry

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Liquid Biopsy Applications

​As early pioneers in liquid biopsies, we developed one of the first blood-based biomarker tests for the early identification of Colorectal Cancer (ColonSentry®)​.Today, more than 100,000 patients in the U.S. have benefited from the ColonSentry test.(2)

One of the strengths of the Sentinel Principle is its flexibility. Applying it to different disease areas enables our scientists to generate specific combinations of biomarkers for numerous applications and medical conditions. This enables us to focus on the clinical questions and diseases with the greatest unmet need and largest opportunities to improve care.

References

1. Liew CC, Ma J, Tang HC, et al. The peripheral blood transcriptome dynamically reflects system wide biology: a potential diagnostic tool. J Lab Clin Med. 2006  Mar;147(3):126-32. 
2. Chao S, PilcZ T, Stamtiou D, et al. Stability of the ColonSentry Colon Cancer Risk Stratfication Test. Int. J Dis Markers. 2019 IJDM-101 DOI: 10.29011/IJDM-101-100001
3. Marshall KW, Mohr S, Khettabi FE, et al. A blood-based biomarker panel for stratifying current risk for colorectal cancer. Int J Cancer. 2010 Mar 1;126(5):1177-86. 
4. Chao, S et al.  Blood RNA biomarker panel detects both left- and right-sided colorectal neoplasms: a case–control study.  Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research 2013, 32:44
5. Dunn GP, Old LJ, Schreiber RD. The three Es of cancer immunoediting. Annu Rev Immunol 2004;22:329-60.
6.  Liles, E. et al.  Uptake of a colorectal cancer screening blood test is higher than of a fecal test offered in clinic: A randomized trial. Cancer Treatment and Research Communications 10 (2017) 27–31.