On March 9, 2022 Boundless Bio, a next-generation precision oncology company developing innovative therapeutics directed against extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in oncogene amplified cancers, reported plans to present at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2022, held in New Orleans and virtually from April 8-13, 2022 (Press release, Boundless Bio, MAR 9, 2022, View Source [SID1234609814]). The in-person poster presentation reveals a novel association between ecDNA bearing tumors and high replication stress, presenting a potential therapeutic strategy for ecDNA-enabled oncogene amplified cancers.
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Presentation details:
Title: Replication stress and the inability to repair damaged DNA, the potential "Achilles’ heel" of ecDNA+ tumor cells
Session Title: Genomic Instability 2
Abstract Number: 1520
Date and Time: April 11, 2022, 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET
Location: Poster Section 5
About ecDNA
Extrachromosomal DNA ("ecDNA") are circular units of nuclear DNA found within cancer cells, and which contain highly transcriptionally active genes, including oncogenes, but are physically distinct from chromosomes and lack centromeres. ecDNA replicate within cancer cells and, due to their lack of centromeres, can be asymmetrically passed to daughter cells during cell division, leading to focal gene amplification and copy number heterogeneity in cancer. By leveraging the plasticity afforded by ecDNA, cancer cells have the ability to increase or decrease copy number of select oncogenes located on ecDNA to enable survival under selective pressures, including targeted therapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or radiation, thereby making ecDNA one of cancer cells’ primary mechanisms of growth, recurrence, and treatment resistance. ecDNA are not found in healthy cells but are present in many solid tumor cancers. They are a key driver of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers, specifically those characterized by high copy number amplification of oncogenes.