Dr Pablo Moscato from the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, and Director of the Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative, who led the team that developed the new algorithm, says that it is capable of "rapidly extracting hidden information from an otherwise uninformative jumble of biological data."

"Humans have over 20,000 genes. Understanding their role in health and disease requires analysis of how the genes behave under different circumstances."

"It is now possible to map the genes that are active in different parts of the body at different times or during development, and to determine how diseases, drugs or toxic chemicals can alter the pattern of gene behaviour."

"The algorithm identifies specific genes and then groups together those with similar patterns of activity. The patterns of activity provide a molecular fingerprint which could potentially be used to identify specific cancer genes."

"By using these techniques to identify gene profiles, biologists will have new mathematical methods to understand their roles and identify ways to control these genes. New methods are needed as a deluge of data is expected from new biotechnologies in the 21st century."

"Analysis of individual variations in genetic profile could lead to personalised medicine, where treatments for diseases or strategies for health promotion can be specifically tailored to the genetic makeup of the individual," says Dr Moscato.

The Newcastle Bioinformatics Initiative is multidisciplinary research group combining expertise from the Faculties of Health, Engineering and Built Environment and Science and Information Technologies at the University of Newcastle.

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This Phase III study was a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial that enrolled 829 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who had previously received a fluorouracil-based therapy and irinotecan, either alone or concurrently, for advanced disease or if their disease had relapsed within six months of concluding adjuvant treatment with these chemotherapy agents. The patients enrolled in this trial were randomized to receive treatment with the FOLFOX4 regimen with or without Avastin. Randomization to a third arm of the study evaluating single-agent Avastin was suspended in March 2003 on the recommendation of the Data Monitoring Committee overseeing the study when review of early results suggested that overall survival for patients in that group might be lower compared to that of patients treated on the other two arms. Results from this treatment arm have not yet been disclosed.

A preliminary assessment of the safety profile suggested that Avastin could be combined safely with FOLFOX4 and treatment toxicities observed in this study were consistent with adverse events observed in other clinical trials in which Avastin was combined with chemotherapy. Adverse events included neuropathy attributed to FOLFOX4 and hypertension, managed with oral medications, and bleeding attributed to Avastin.

Avastin is a therapeutic antibody designed to inhibit Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), a protein that plays an important role in tumor angiogenesis and maintenance of existing tumor vessels. By inhibiting VEGF, Avastin is designed to interfere with the blood supply to a tumor, a process that is critical to a tumor's growth and metastasis.

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