Research The Bayer Scientific Magazin, Edition 28

Focus on breast cancer: to improve the prospects of recovery, the scientists first have to gain a precise understanding of the processes 

 taking place in the malignant cells.

PERSONALIZED CANCER THERAPIES

Joint support for cancer research

Drugs to treat cancer are expected to have a more targeted effect in future. To this end, researchers at Bayer HealthCare  

are  analyzing the specific disease courses of individual patients in order to develop tailor-made therapies. They also  

receive support in the form of tumor tissue samples from patients suffering from cancer.

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Bayer research 28    July 2015

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Photos: P

eter Ginter/Bayer AG (1), All Mauritius/Alamy (1), P

eter Gr

oth (1)

Every tumor is different. What’s more, 

the disease can take very different 

courses, from complete recovery to rapid 

death. A detailed understanding of these 

differences is vital to develop more ef-

fective treatments that are tailor-made 

to the individual tumor and patient. 

That’s why Bayer is working together 

closely with the PATH (Patients’ Tumor 

Bank of Hope) foundation in the case of 

breast cancer, a disease which affects 

more than 1.6 million women worldwide 

and is still on the rise. 

“A few years ago, we heard about the 

PATH foundation. It was set up by breast 

cancer patients with the aim of increas-

ing the chances of recovery,” explains 

Dr. Joachim Reischl, Head of Biomark-

er Strategy & Development at Bayer 

HealthCare. Working together with the 

PATH foundation gives the scientists 

access to numerous deep-frozen tissue 

samples along with the corresponding 

anonymized clinical data. This has ad-

vantages for all the parties involved. 

“We get biological materials and infor-

mation that help us to better understand 

the disease and will make it possible for 

us to develop new drug products. At the 

same time, we also get a better insight 

into the patients’ perspective, and the 

PATH employees gain a better under-

standing of pharmaceutical research,” 

says Reischl. The researchers compare 

the clinical data with the findings of the 

tissue analyses to track down changes 

in gene sequences or proteins that are 

associated with specific disease courses, 

and chart the frequency of these chang-

es. This forms an important basis for 

the development of personalized thera-

pies that are matched to the molecular 

changes in the tumor. There have already 

been initial, promising successes: by ana-

lyzing biopsy samples donated by PATH, 

Dr. Marion Rudolph, Senior Biomarker 

Expert at Bayer HealthCare, has collated 

data on the frequency of a specific mu-

tation that may play a crucial role in the 

development of breast cancer. 

It is also planned to use the research 

findings to tailor treatments with drug 

products that have already been ap-

proved even more precisely to the pa-

tients in future.

Dr. Joachim Reischl, Head of 

 Biomarker Strategy & Development 

at Bayer HealthCare

New therapies thanks to 

 biopsies and clinical data

www.research.bayer.com/

path

More information on this topic

“Advance testing of the 

individual efficacy will 

lead to better chances 

of recovery.”

What was the idea behind the PATH foundation?

Breast cancer is now curable in most cases, and enormous therapeu-

tic progress has been achieved. However, many patients still die from 

breast cancer or suffer relapses. We want to help suitable treatments 

to be found for these women as well. 

How comprehensive is the PATH collection?

At present, we have clinical data and blood and tissue samples from 

approximately 7,800 breast cancer patients, and this figure is grow-

ing daily. 

“Find suitable treatments”

Ulla  

Ohlms

Have you had any initial successes?

Yes, a study by the German Cancer Research Center that we 

helped to launch. It has come up with one potential explanation 

of why some tumors develop resistances, and as such has de-

livered new approaches for drug development. The interaction 

with Bayer is likewise very close and fruitful. We have already 

presented the initial findings at one of the world‘s largest con-

ferences on cancer research and the response was extremely 

positive. That is something we are very proud of.

research

 talked to Ulla Ohlms, Chairwoman of the breast 

cancer survivors-run biobank PATH, about the foundation‘s 

successes.

PATH

  MEDICINE

Bayer research 28    July 2015

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Metabolic detectives: Dr. Julian I. Borissoff from Bayer HealthCare and Dr. Mark-Christoph Ott from Bayer CropScience (left to right) analyze 

the chemical details in the metabolism of humans, animals, plants and microorganisms to track down new targets for active ingredients.

Photos: P

eter Ginter/Bayer AG (3), Andr

ezj W

ojcicki/Science Photolibr

ary/Gettyimages (1)

SPECIAL FEATURE

 

Life science research

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Bayer research 28    July 2015

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