Personalizing Cancer Care

What does it mean to have a rare bone cancer?

Osteosarcoma, a rare but deadly form of bone cancer, primarily affects children and adolescents. In Switzerland alone, there are approximately 5 new cases per year. The impact on those affected and their families is profound, extending far beyond a life-threatening diagnosis. For some, treatment may involve amputation, leading to lifelong disabilities.

Despite its rarity, osteosarcoma continues to be given lower priority by pharmaceutical companies when it comes to the development of enhanced medications compared to the existing but inadequate standard treatment. This lack of attention leaves patients and their families feeling forgotten and underserved. The problem with treatments not working well isn’t just because they are ineffective. They may work better for some patients than for others. Doctors just simply can’t always tell how a patient will react to the drugs that are already there. Every person is different, so not everyone does well with the same treatment. Right now, treatments are mostly given in the same standard way to everyone, even though it might not be the best for each person. But there’s a big opportunity to make the treatments we already have work better if we can personalize them to fit each patient.

That’s where CompagOs steps in. We support researchers who are dedicated to finding new therapies for this devastating disease and physicians to choose the most effective drugs for each individual patient. Our cutting-edge technology can replace traditional animal models, which are still the gold standard in cancer research, leading to accelerated development of effective treatments while upholding ethical considerations. Our technology further empowers doctors to personalize treatments and pinpoint the most suitable drugs for each individual patient by assessing their effectiveness on the patient’s specific cancer models in lab environments and predicting individual responses to therapies.

Our vision is clear: to revolutionize the treatment of osteosarcoma and save patients from the devastating consequences of current therapies. By focusing on personalized treatments and supporting dedicated research, we can make a difference in the lives of those affected by this significant cancer. Join us in this critical mission because every patient deserves the best chance at life.

Our project stands out

Our innovative technology can mimic human bone cancer. This technology, developed by our dedicated team at ETH Zürich, can 3D print human bone cells to create a model of the disease. This model, which is called an organoid, can be used to test the effectiveness of drugs during research and in tailoring treatments to each individual, a critical need for osteosarcoma patients.

We are a passionate team of scientists, engineers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs, all committed to bringing this technology from the lab to the patients who need it most. Our project, has already received funding from the Personalized Health and Related Technology for another disease area, osteogenesis imperfecta, under the title «CompagOS, a personalized bone organoid diagnostic framework for predicting drug response in children with rare bone disease».

Now it is time to leverage our skills and expertise to bring new therapies for osteosarcoma patients!

Your contribution is pivotal

Your support will enable us to refine our technology and validate it with a broader range of patient samples. With a goal of CHF 25,000, we can make significant strides in our pilot project using cancer cells from actual patients.

Remember, every contribution, no matter how small, counts. It fuels the momentum we need to continue our vital work.

These funds will be used to create models of bone cancer and improve our methods, allowing us to conduct more tests with patient cells. This will help us better understand how different treatments work and move us closer to our goal of personalized cancer treatment.

Your contribution can provide the vital spark we need to translate our research from the lab bench to the patient’s bed. We’re committed to continually enhancing our technology and making it more efficient. While the funding goal won’t cover the hiring of full-time staff, it will help us to achieve our milestones of doing first pilot projects with cancer cells from patients.

Your support is invaluable. Join us in this mission to transform the treatment of bone cancer and make a lasting impact on the lives of patients and their families.