Half the battle in helping cancer patients involves just being a dog on a bone operationally, and having a maniacal ops team. We're working with a young adult patient whose samples had failed sequencing three times before we met them. We tried 4 more times, and failed every time. Tumor content too low. Necrosis. DNA / RNA extraction failed. Finally, we managed to get some results on single cell RNA sequencing. Tumor cells were only 9% of the total, but they were present. When looking at those tumor cells, we saw clear signs of enrichment in a T-cell therapy target. But we also needed to know their HLA type, and we couldn't infer that from our single cell assay. So we did a Guardant 360 blood test, and fortunately, got the exact HLA type we were hoping for. A few days ago, we got the terrible news that the patient progressed. Now, this therapy might be the best option. Our ops team works with feral persistence for exactly these situations, even before it's urgent. In cases of recurrence, we want all the data to be on the table, so patients and physicians can make the best possible decisions. @Valius_Sciences

At Valius, we think a lot about what the most important oncology diagnostics will be 5 years from now. We're excited about single cell RNA sequencing as a future diagnostic modality, and we're working to bring it to the clinic. This case study of a myxofibrosarcoma patient illustrates why.

It's amazing how often you find actionable targets in tough cancers when you look hard enough. We're working with a leiomyosarcoma patient, a rare abdominal cancer. This one was considered inoperable.