Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd announced that it signed a joint research agreement with the National Cancer Center Japan (NCC) and participated in an Asian multi-center prospective study A-TRAIN, which is led by NCC Hospital.

A-TRAIN is an international collaborative study to establish and analyze a database that combines genomic analysis using blood-based liquid biopsy test and clinical information, for six common intractable cancers which are frequently reported in Asia: cervical cancer, ovarian clear cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, endometrial cancer and triple-negative breast cancer.

The study aims to establish a foundation for personalized healthcare and to promote research and development of therapeutic agents, for intractable cancers which are frequently reported in Asia, by identifying genomic abnormalities that can be used as therapeutic targets and encouraging clinical trials. Chugai, in cooperation with Roche, provides a blood-based liquid biopsy test FoundationOne Liquid CDx Cancer Genomic Profile for genomic analysis in the ovarian cancer cohorts of this collaborative study.

“Realizing advanced personalized healthcare is one of our major targets. I am very pleased that we can offer comprehensive genomic profiling for this important collaborative study, which may lead to further development of cancer genomic medicine in Asia,” said Chugai’s President and CEO Dr Osamu Okuda. “Providing high-quality cancer care is a considerable challenge in Asia, where cancer is an increasingly serious issue. We hope that the study will lead to building a foundation for personalized healthcare and further research and development in oncology in this region.