The domestic corporations Jinssiker has succeeded in developing a source technology capable of detecting cancer signals through blood, in collaboration with local medical professionals. The potential for clinical applications such as early cancer diagnosis and monitoring of recurrence is considered high.
The precision healthcare corporation Jinssiker noted on the 27th that it has successfully detected a single cancer mutation DNA among tens of thousands of DNA using its gene-editing-based liquid biopsy platform in collaboration with domestic medical professionals. This research achievement has been published in the online (Early View) edition of the international journal 'Advanced Materials' and has been selected as the cover paper for November.
Previously, in order to catch small cancer signals (ctDNA), it was necessary to analyze a lot of data for an extended period using expensive equipment, which created limitations in being able to detect extremely small amounts of cancer mutation signals.
Jinssiker utilized the liquid biopsy platform 'MUTE-Seq™,' which applies ultra-precise gene-editing technology (FnCas9-AF2). This platform accurately separates and pre-removes normal DNA signals, reducing the necessary amount of analysis while amplifying cancer signals by dozens of times. As a result, the precision is 20 times higher compared to existing methods, and the expense of the tests can be reduced to one-tenth.
The research team confirmed the performance in actual patient blood tests. In lung cancer patients, the sensitivity rate, which is the rate of correctly detecting cancer, was 91%, and the specificity rate, which is the rate of not mistakenly diagnosing healthy individuals as cancer patients, was 95%. In pancreatic cancer patients, the sensitivity was 83%, and specificity was 100%. They also detected all minimal amounts of cancer mutations in acute myeloid leukemia patients during post-treatment monitoring, diagnosing the presence of minimal residual disease with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
This study was primarily conducted on early-stage cancers (stages 1 and 2) and patients with minimal residual disease, confirming the possibility of early cancer diagnosis and recurrence verification through blood alone.
This study included Professor Kim Jin-soo of Seoul Borame Medical Center, Professors Kim Myung-sin and Kim Yong-goo of the Catholic University of Korea's Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Professor Heo Jun-ho of Hanyang University College of Medicine, and Professor Kim Song-cheol of Seoul Asan Medical Center.
Heo Jun-seok, co-founder and co-CEO of Jinssiker and professor of neurosurgery at Korea University Anam Hospital (head of the Genome R&D Center), said, "The speed of discovery and the thorough monitoring after treatment determine the survival rate for cancer," adding, "If we can detect small cancer signals through blood, it will be possible to achieve early detection and identify recurrence signs." He continued, "If the examination burden is reduced, it will lower the barriers for regional, elderly, and vulnerable populations, contributing to healthcare equity."
References
Advanced Materials (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202505208