Through earlier detection and a better understanding of whether a patient’s cancer may spread, doctors can provide more appropriate treatments. For example, cancer that has metastasized, or is capable of spreading, requires aggressive therapy. However, patients with localized cancer may be spared the lengthy, painful and expensive treatments they often undergo as a precaution.
"We anticipate that this technology can reduce the overall cost of treatment and mortality of metastatic cancer that is now diagnosed as local cancer," said Evacyte co-founder Christian Walker. "In addition, it could potentially lessen medical liability costs by providing more accurate diagnoses."
Evacyte is focusing its initial efforts on metastatically competent tumor cells within breast and melanoma tumors, both of which are highly treatable in their early stages.
Evacyte was founded in 2000 by two entrepreneurial scientists. Walker is a molecular biologist who, as a graduate student, worked with Käs in the early development of Optical Cell Stretcher technology. Co-founder Hal Erickson, a biophysical chemist and Evacyte’s chief technologist, is a guest lecturer in conservation science and biomaterials chemistry at the university.
Contact: Renee Mallett, associate director for technology licensing and intellectual property, (512) 471-2995, or Curt Bilby, Evacyte Corp., (512) 347 8830, ext. 207, or by e-mail at: <curt@evacyte.com>
