a gamechanging biopsy

THE CEO OF GUARDANT HEALTH AMEA UNVEILS THE GROUNDBREAKING WORK OF GUARDANT'S LIQUID BIOPSY TECHNOLOGY AND EXPLAINS HOW THIS EMPATHETIC APPROACH TO CANCER DETECTION IS TRANSFORMING THE LANDSCAPE OF HEALTH TECH.

- ZAT ASTHA

“This work has an actual meaningful impact on patients’ lives,” he tells me during our interview one Wednesday morning.

To the layperson, the work that Simranjit is referencing might be hard to understand. After all, when presented on a website, these things come across as clinical, with copy that hints more at the outcome than the process. Inevitably, with life-changing technologies like what Guardant Health offers, it’s essential to be well-funded — and there’s nothing investors love more than outcomes, I’m sure.

“Our Guardant 360 Liquid Biopsy involves identifying fragments of tumour DNA circulating in the bloodstream,” he offers helpfully when I ask him how exactly Guardant Health detects cancer cells with pinpoint accuracy. The tumour releases its DNA into the bloodstream when its cells die. “It’s similar to how a pregnant mother’s bloodstream carries DNA from the foetus, which can be tested for genetic conditions like Down Syndrome or Turner Syndrome.”

“Once we’ve detected these fragments, we use advanced technologies like AI and bioinformatics to make multiple copies of them and piece them together like a puzzle.” This, he explains, helps them determine which mutation is causing the patient’s cancer. “When we find it, we report it to the doctor, who can then use the information to guide the patient’s therapy — like a GPS.”

WHY IT WORKS

Before the advent of Guardant Health’s 360 Liquid Biopsy, doctors had to do invasive tissue biopsies, where they would physically extract tissue samples from the tumour site. However, this method had limitations, especially in advanced cancer patients with multiple metastatic tumour sites.