SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boundless Bio, a next-generation precision oncology company developing innovative therapeutics directed against extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in aggressive cancers, today announced plans to present at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021, held virtually from April 10-15, 2021. The poster presentation will show how ecDNA mediates resistance to targeted therapy via oncogene switching and will highlight the urgent need to develop innovative new therapeutic approaches for gene amplified tumors that are driven by ecDNA.
Presentation details:
Title: Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA)-driven switching of oncogene dependency facilitates resistance to targeted therapy
Session Title: Drug Resistance in Molecular Target Therapeutics
Session Category: PO.ET03.01
Abstract Number: 1089
Date and Time: April 10, 2021, 8:30 a.m. – 11:59 p.m. ET
About ecDNA
Extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA, are distinct circular units of DNA lacking centromeres but containing functional genes, including oncogenes, that are separated from tumor cell chromosomes. ecDNA replicate within cancer cells and can be passed to daughter cells asymmetrically during cell division, thereby constituting a primary driver of focal gene amplification and copy number heterogeneity in cancer. By leveraging the plasticity afforded by ecDNA, cancer has the ability to increase or decrease copy number of select oncogenes located on ecDNA to enable survival under selective pressures, including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, or radiation, making ecDNA one of cancer cells’ primary mechanisms of 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.
About Boundless Bio
Boundless Bio is a next-generation precision oncology company interrogating a novel area of cancer biology, extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), to deliver transformative therapies to patients with previously intractable cancers.
For more information, visit www.boundlessbio.com.
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