Tumor gene profiling – Croatia 3rd in Europe

Every cancer has its unique characteristics like every individual, which highlights the importance of personalized healthcare. The implementation of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods has been a primary focus for years. We are currently witnessing Croatia becoming one of the leading countries in personalized healthcare. Two weeks ago, KBC Zagreb opened the National Laboratory for Tumor Gene Profiling, which is the third such laboratory in Europe alongside those in Germany and Switzerland. In addition, the Institute for Personalized Medicine was formed, indicating a new era of adapted care for every patient.

Opening of the Laboratory for Tumor Gene Profiling

The Ministry of Health and KBC Zagreb have jointly established the laboratory and the institute as part of a five-year program focused on personalized medicine in oncology, in collaboration with Roche. The first phase of the project involved setting up the laboratory, training the staff, and creating the institute. The second phase will include creating the Croatian database for treatment outcome monitoring.

One laboratory test costs 1.800,00 EUR, and the lab has an annual capacity of up to 10.000 tests. Croatia is now a regional leader in personalized medicine, with the capacity to meet the needs of neighboring countries. The lab will also conduct other advanced methods such as liquid biopsy and is expected to make progress in cardiology and neurology, alongside oncology.

‘We heard the cry and the desire of patients to ensure the availability of the most advanced cancer therapy, and this laboratory ranks Croatia among the top in the world. I would like to thank Roche for choosing Croatia for the realization of such an important project.’ Prime Minister Andrej Plenković

Tumor gene profiling

Cancer is formed after the damage or mutation of our DNA molecule, and each one is unique in its mutations and genome characteristics. Gene profiling is a process used to analyze DNA mutations in tumor tissues. Based on the results, the patient is able to get the optimal treatment method, which is adapted to the characteristics of every tumor.

The advantage of this test is that specific genome mutations can be targeted with specialized molecules. This means that the therapy targets only the tumor cells, without affecting the surrounding tissue like some previously used methods.

There are several gene profiling methods, with comprehensive gene profiling analyzing multiple mutations along the entire length of a large portion of DNA. The other tests are based on the analysis of previously defined individual mutations in certain DNA regions.

What does this mean for Croatia?

In Croatia, the challenges in the fight against cancer are becoming more enhanced with the number of cancer patients increasing by one percent annually. Diagnostics and therapy personalization are the key strategies to increase treatment efficiency. This project is also creating a database that will be the foundation for further prevention, diagnostics, and therapy promotion.

Translated by: Lara Mužević