Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. George Sledge, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Caris Life Sciences, is using advanced molecular testing, including DNA, RNA, and protein analysis, to identify specific mutations and characteristics of a patient's tumor, allowing for more personalized and targeted treatment. The company is developing liquid biopsies to detect cancer early, identify minimal residual disease, and assess the potential for future cancer development. Caris has a database of over half a million patients whose tumors have undergone next-generation sequencing, allowing them to draw increasingly accurate conclusions. The future of precision oncology is expected to involve broader and earlier use of next-generation sequencing as the cost of the test continues to decrease significantly.

George explains, "Caris Life Sciences is a molecular diagnostics company. Patients and their physicians send us tumor samples that can be obtained either from the primary tissue or from a distant recurrent site. When they come to us, we do several things. We look at DNA, what's called whole exome. We look at RNA, what's called whole transcriptome. We also frequently look at the protein level at immunohistochemistry, looking at slides that have been stained to look for particular molecular lesions that may be important from a treatment standpoint. Based on all of these, we're able to provide patients with information about which drugs represent the most appropriate treatment for their disease. This, of course, allows you to go to a drug that hopefully will be less toxic and more effective for your particular disease."

"When we look at the very specific mutations that manifest themselves at the level of either DNA or RNA, this requires fairly high technology, what's called next-generation sequencing, which allows us to pick up all these individual mutations that make up a particular patient's cancer. And every patient's cancer is different. Every patient's cancer involves different combinations of mutations that result in different responses to different treatments."

#CarisLifeSciences #CancerResearch #PrecisionMedicine #RealWorldData #AccestoCare #HealthEquity #NextGenerationSequencing #NGS #LiquidBiopsy #ClinicoGenomic #Biomarkers #PanCancer

carislifesciences.com

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Dr. George Sledge, Executive VP and Chief Medical Officer of Caris Life Sciences, is using advanced molecular testing, including DNA, RNA, and protein analysis, to identify specific mutations and characteristics of a patient's tumor, allowing for more personalized and targeted treatment. The company is developing liquid biopsies to detect cancer early, identify minimal residual disease, and assess the potential for future cancer development. Caris has a database of over half a million patients whose tumors have undergone next-generation sequencing, allowing them to draw increasingly accurate conclusions. The future of precision oncology is expected to involve broader and earlier use of next-generation sequencing as the cost of the test continues to decrease significantly.

George explains, "Caris Life Sciences is a molecular diagnostics company. Patients and their physicians send us tumor samples that can be obtained either from the primary tissue or from a distant recurrent site. When they come to us, we do several things. We look at DNA, what's called whole exome. We look at RNA, what's called whole transcriptome. We also frequently look at the protein level at immunohistochemistry, looking at slides that have been stained to look for particular molecular lesions that may be important from a treatment standpoint. Based on all of these, we're able to provide patients with information about which drugs represent the most appropriate treatment for their disease. This, of course, allows you to go to a drug that hopefully will be less toxic and more effective for your particular disease."

"When we look at the very specific mutations that manifest themselves at the level of either DNA or RNA, this requires fairly high technology, what's called next-generation sequencing, which allows us to pick up all these individual mutations that make up a particular patient's cancer. And every patient's cancer is different. Every patient's cancer involves different combinations of mutations that result in different responses to different treatments."

#CarisLifeSciences #CancerResearch #PrecisionMedicine #RealWorldData #AccestoCare #HealthEquity #NextGenerationSequencing #NGS #LiquidBiopsy #ClinicoGenomic #Biomarkers #PanCancer

carislifesciences.com

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Kirk Huntsman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Vivos Therapeutics, is focused on the connection between obstructive sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease, the challenges of diagnosing sleep apnea, and the importance of sleep testing in treating the root causes of sleep disorders. The Vivos oral appliance is a non-invasive way to address the breathing disorder OSA and resulting sleep issues. Proper nasal breathing and airway development from a young age can help prevent the onset of sleep apnea and help preserve brain health.

Kirk explains, "Sleep apnea is an interesting condition that has only been actively researched for the last 60 years. It was really only identified and started showing up in the medical literature in the mid-1960s. And so we really have about a 60-year run at trying to figure out what this condition is, what it affects, what's comorbid with it, etc. We're now pushing 40 plus conditions, which are comorbid with sleep apnea, and every time we find another condition that is coexistent with sleep apnea or that is found in connection with sleep apnea, we just expand the horizon for that and we learn more about the sort of the biomechanical and the biological processes that are at work that drive the connection between these two. And you mentioned one of the main ones now that we've known about for a while, but the connection between obstructive sleep apnea in particular and Alzheimer's."

"What we know is that there's a drainage system on the brain. Our brains need to get into a deep state of rest, and it's called REM sleep. And there are other parts to this. I'll keep it really high level, but the bottom line is that our brains flush. There's a sewage system that basically flushes the toxins out of our brains. It's called the glymphatic system. And the glymphatic system needs to be able to function, and in order to function, the patient has to be in a state of deep sleep. And so if sleep apnea has interrupted that sleep and caused various arousals or various interruptions to avoid a patient arriving at that, what happens is that the brain is not able to flush the toxins out of the brain, and those toxins build up."

#VivosTherapeutics #SleepApnea #ObstructiveSleepApnea #OSA #SleepDisorders #CognitiveDecline #Alzheimers #OSATreatment #MedicalDevice

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Kirk Huntsman, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Vivos Therapeutics, is focused on the connection between obstructive sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease, the challenges of diagnosing sleep apnea, and the importance of sleep testing in treating the root causes of sleep disorders. The Vivos oral appliance is a non-invasive way to address the breathing disorder OSA and resulting sleep issues. Proper nasal breathing and airway development from a young age can help prevent the onset of sleep apnea and help preserve brain health.

Kirk explains, "Sleep apnea is an interesting condition that has only been actively researched for the last 60 years. It was really only identified and started showing up in the medical literature in the mid-1960s. And so we really have about a 60-year run at trying to figure out what this condition is, what it affects, what's comorbid with it, etc. We're now pushing 40 plus conditions, which are comorbid with sleep apnea, and every time we find another condition that is coexistent with sleep apnea or that is found in connection with sleep apnea, we just expand the horizon for that and we learn more about the sort of the biomechanical and the biological processes that are at work that drive the connection between these two. And you mentioned one of the main ones now that we've known about for a while, but the connection between obstructive sleep apnea in particular and Alzheimer's."

"What we know is that there's a drainage system on the brain. Our brains need to get into a deep state of rest, and it's called REM sleep. And there are other parts to this. I'll keep it really high level, but the bottom line is that our brains flush. There's a sewage system that basically flushes the toxins out of our brains. It's called the glymphatic system. And the glymphatic system needs to be able to function, and in order to function, the patient has to be in a state of deep sleep. And so if sleep apnea has interrupted that sleep and caused various arousals or various interruptions to avoid a patient arriving at that, what happens is that the brain is not able to flush the toxins out of the brain, and those toxins build up."

#VivosTherapeutics #SleepApnea #ObstructiveSleepApnea #OSA #SleepDisorders #CognitiveDecline #Alzheimers #OSATreatment #MedicalDevice

vivos.com

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Marianne De Backer is the CEO of Vir Biotechnology, a company developing treatments that harness the power of the immune system to fight serious infectious diseases and cancer. Vir Biotechnology's current clinical trials include a registrational program in chronic hepatitis delta, a rare, often fatal liver disease, as well as two Phase 1 trials of PRO-XTEN™ dual-masked T-cell engagers (TCEs), one targeting HER-2 and the other targeting PSMA, each in heavily pre-treated cancer patients. TCEs have shown tremendous potential but have been limited due to toxicity challenges. The PRO-XTEN™ technology keeps the TCEs masked until they reach the tumor microenvironment, potentially mitigating the toxicity of TCEs and allowing them to unleash their tremendous potential to destroy cancer cells.

Marianne explains, "Vir Biotechnology is an immunology company, and that means that we are really developing treatments that take advantage of the power of basically the patient's own immune system to fight a variety of diseases. We have actually four clinical-stage programs in infectious disease and oncology, and a number of preclinical programs as well. And our most advanced program is to treat chronic hepatitis delta. That is actually a disease caused by a tiny virus, but it's causing liver cancer and is often fatal."

"We have recently initiated our registrational phase 3 program. It's called ECLIPSE. We had previously shown some very compelling data with one of our regimens for treating this disease. We're really excited about progressing that program. And the rest of our clinical pipeline includes a series of so-called PRO-XTEN™ masked T-cell engagers, or in short, TCEs, for the treatment of metastatic solid tumors."

Vir Biotechnology has exclusive rights to the PRO-XTEN™ masking platform for oncology and infectious disease. PRO-XTEN™ is a trademark of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a Sanofi company.

#VirBiotechnology #MaskedTCellEngagers #TCellEngagers #SolidTumors #MetastaticSolidTumors #Cancer #Immunotherapy #ChronicHepatitisDelta #MedAI #PatientsAreWaiting

vir.bio

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Marianne De Backer is the CEO of Vir Biotechnology, a company developing treatments that harness the power of the immune system to fight serious infectious diseases and cancer. Vir Biotechnology's current clinical trials include a registrational program in chronic hepatitis delta, a rare, often fatal liver disease, as well as two Phase 1 trials of PRO-XTEN™ dual-masked T-cell engagers (TCEs), one targeting HER-2 and the other targeting PSMA, each in heavily pre-treated cancer patients. TCEs have shown tremendous potential but have been limited due to toxicity challenges. The PRO-XTEN™ technology keeps the TCEs masked until they reach the tumor microenvironment, potentially mitigating the toxicity of TCEs and allowing them to unleash their tremendous potential to destroy cancer cells.

Marianne explains, "Vir Biotechnology is an immunology company, and that means that we are really developing treatments that take advantage of the power of basically the patient's own immune system to fight a variety of diseases. We have actually four clinical-stage programs in infectious disease and oncology, and a number of preclinical programs as well. And our most advanced program is to treat chronic hepatitis delta. That is actually a disease caused by a tiny virus, but it's causing liver cancer and is often fatal."

"We have recently initiated our registrational phase 3 program. It's called ECLIPSE. We had previously shown some very compelling data with one of our regimens for treating this disease. We're really excited about progressing that program. And the rest of our clinical pipeline includes a series of so-called PRO-XTEN™ masked T-cell engagers, or in short, TCEs, for the treatment of metastatic solid tumors."

Vir Biotechnology has exclusive rights to the PRO-XTEN™ masking platform for oncology and infectious disease. PRO-XTEN™ is a trademark of Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a Sanofi company.

#VirBiotechnology #MaskedTCellEngagers #TCellEngagers #SolidTumors #MetastaticSolidTumors #Cancer #Immunotherapy #ChronicHepatitisDelta #MedAI #PatientsAreWaiting

vir.bio

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Evan Steele, Founder and CEO of online reputation management company rater8, emphasizes the importance of online reviews for healthcare providers and how patients are increasingly relying on reviews to select a doctor. The key to generating reviews is to actively ask for feedback and acknowledge receipt of comments. Negative reviews and low-star ratings can encourage practices to respond to comments, improving the patient experience and demonstrating to patients that the practice cares.

Evan explains, "Now, you look in your insurance guide to see which providers in your area accept the insurance. There's a Facebook group. You might ask, Who do I go to see for my shoulder that hurts for an orthopedic surgeon? You ask your friends and family, your PCP gives you some names, and you start going down the list. And what's changed is if you call that first doctor on the list and they don't have great reviews, you might not even call them, but let's say you call them and they have a convenient time, and a location is convenient, but the next doctor has 150 reviews, 4.9 stars."

"You read the comments, patients love this doctor. Even if the appointment time is not convenient for you or the drive is a little further than the most convenient location, you're going to book an appointment with that doctor. Just like I would never even think of dining at a 3.8-star rated restaurant. I wouldn't trust my health, my life, and my well-being to a 3.8-rated doctor. So I think people are making decisions now based on online reviews and even going out of their way and being inconvenienced to make sure they get the right doctor."

#rater8 #ReputationManagement #PatientFeedback #PatientEngagement #PracticeGrowth #TrustMarketing #PatientAcquisition #PatientProviderRelationship

rater8.com

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Evan Steele, Founder and CEO of online reputation management company rater8, emphasizes the importance of online reviews for healthcare providers and how patients are increasingly relying on reviews to select a doctor. The key to generating reviews is to actively ask for feedback and acknowledge receipt of comments. Negative reviews and low-star ratings can encourage practices to respond to comments, improving the patient experience and demonstrating to patients that the practice cares.

Evan explains, "Now, you look in your insurance guide to see which providers in your area accept the insurance. There's a Facebook group. You might ask, Who do I go to see for my shoulder that hurts for an orthopedic surgeon? You ask your friends and family, your PCP gives you some names, and you start going down the list. And what's changed is if you call that first doctor on the list and they don't have great reviews, you might not even call them, but let's say you call them and they have a convenient time, and a location is convenient, but the next doctor has 150 reviews, 4.9 stars."

"You read the comments, patients love this doctor. Even if the appointment time is not convenient for you or the drive is a little further than the most convenient location, you're going to book an appointment with that doctor. Just like I would never even think of dining at a 3.8-star rated restaurant. I wouldn't trust my health, my life, and my well-being to a 3.8-rated doctor. So I think people are making decisions now based on online reviews and even going out of their way and being inconvenienced to make sure they get the right doctor."

#rater8 #ReputationManagement #PatientFeedback #PatientEngagement #PracticeGrowth #TrustMarketing #PatientAcquisition #PatientProviderRelationship

rater8.com

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Elli Kaplan, CEO and Co-Founder of Neurotrack, emphasizes the importance of early cognitive assessment and the potential of digital tools in advancing the screening process for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. Screen-based assessment tools can provide more efficient, accurate, and objective screening compared to traditional pen and paper tests. Integrating cognitive screening into primary care settings can lead to early intervention when lifestyle changes can help maintain brain health and slow the progression of conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

Elli explains, "We are focused on screening for cognitive decline, and that includes mild cognitive impairment all the way through to Alzheimer's disease, working largely with primary care providers to help them then make a diagnosis of cognitive decline or Alzheimer's in their clinics and refer patients on to get better treatment."

"Historically, there have been tests that have existed in the universe that are pen and paper tests that measure cognition. I would say quite poorly. But the other problem with these types of tests is that they have to be administered by a trained administrator, who is typically a doctor, and they take a long time. So they may take anywhere from 10 minutes to 25 minutes. And so the advantages of digital tools are that one, they don't carry that same bias. Some that would occur with one provider versus another versus another, with a different kind of style administering the test. So they're much more objective."

"Our tests are quite short, so they can be administered, self-administered in about three minutes, depending on the patient. So, anywhere from three minutes up to about seven minutes, as we unlock additional tests as they may be needed for a particular patient. So they make it possible to standardize testing across a population and to integrate it into workflows in ways that haven't been possible before. So more efficient, more accurate, and more objective. And you take out a lot of the bias that has existed around both administration, as well as things like language or education levels, ethnicity, that type of thing."

#Neurotrack #Alzheimers #HealthTech #AlzheimersAwareness #MemoryCare #SeniorCare #Aging #Cognition #CognitionScreening #Dementia

neurotrack.com

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Elli Kaplan, CEO and Co-Founder of Neurotrack, emphasizes the importance of early cognitive assessment and the potential of digital tools in advancing the screening process for cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. Screen-based assessment tools can provide more efficient, accurate, and objective screening compared to traditional pen and paper tests. Integrating cognitive screening into primary care settings can lead to early intervention when lifestyle changes can help maintain brain health and slow the progression of conditions like Alzheimer's disease.

Elli explains, "We are focused on screening for cognitive decline, and that includes mild cognitive impairment all the way through to Alzheimer's disease, working largely with primary care providers to help them then make a diagnosis of cognitive decline or Alzheimer's in their clinics and refer patients on to get better treatment."

"Historically, there have been tests that have existed in the universe that are pen and paper tests that measure cognition. I would say quite poorly. But the other problem with these types of tests is that they have to be administered by a trained administrator, who is typically a doctor, and they take a long time. So they may take anywhere from 10 minutes to 25 minutes. And so the advantages of digital tools are that one, they don't carry that same bias. Some that would occur with one provider versus another versus another, with a different kind of style administering the test. So they're much more objective."

"Our tests are quite short, so they can be administered, self-administered in about three minutes, depending on the patient. So, anywhere from three minutes up to about seven minutes, as we unlock additional tests as they may be needed for a particular patient. So they make it possible to standardize testing across a population and to integrate it into workflows in ways that haven't been possible before. So more efficient, more accurate, and more objective. And you take out a lot of the bias that has existed around both administration, as well as things like language or education levels, ethnicity, that type of thing."

#Neurotrack #Alzheimers #HealthTech #AlzheimersAwareness #MemoryCare #SeniorCare #Aging #Cognition #CognitionScreening #Dementia

neurotrack.com

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