Press Release

Lurie Cancer Center joins Caris’ extensive network of leading cancer institutions committed to improving patient outcomes through innovations in precision medicine

IRVING, Texas, May 16, 2023 – Caris Life Sciences^® (Caris), the leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare, announced today that Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University has joined the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA). The POA is a growing network of leading cancer centers across the globe that collaborate to advance precision oncology and biomarker-driven research, with its members working together to establish and optimize standards of care for molecular testing through innovative research to improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients. POA members are uniquely positioned to leverage Caris’ highly sophisticated AI bioinformatics and machine learning capabilities across the company’s massive clinico-genomic database to enable innovative research to improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients.

As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Lurie Cancer Center is leading efforts to improve cancer prevention, detection, and care. The cancer program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked among the nation’s top 10 by U.S. News & World Report in its list of “Best Hospitals for Cancer,” and also recognized as the top cancer program in Illinois and Chicago. Collaborating across disciplines, Lurie Cancer Center’s physicians and scientists combine scientific discoveries and medical innovation to provide pioneering therapies through clinical trials and the highest level of patient-centered cancer care.

“Joining the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance provides new opportunities to advance emerging technologies and research strategies in precision medicine, and expand access to important and timely clinical trials that aim to improve patient outcomes,” said Leonidas Platanias, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Lurie Cancer Center.

“We are thrilled that Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center has joined the ever-expanding Caris Precision Oncology Alliance network,” said Chadi Nabhan, M.D., MBA, FACP, Chairman of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance. “The vision of the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance is aligned with that of Lurie Cancer Center in bringing cutting edge technologies and therapies to all patients diagnosed with cancer.”

The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance includes 83 cancer centers and academic institutions. These institutions have early access to the extensive database and artificial intelligence platform within Caris to establish evidence-based standards for cancer profiling and molecular testing in oncology. By leveraging the comprehensive genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling available through Caris molecular profiling, Caris seeks to provide this network with the ability to prioritize therapeutic options and determine which clinical trial opportunities may benefit their patients. POA members are also able to integrate with a growing portfolio of biomarker-directed trials sponsored by biopharma. Additionally, POA member institutions have access to the most comprehensive clinico-genomic database in the industry, which includes matched molecular and clinical outcomes data from more than 390,000 patients, covering over 1 million data points per patient.

About Caris Life Sciences
Caris Life Sciences^® (Caris) is the pioneer in precision medicine and leading molecular science and technology company actively developing and delivering innovative solutions to revolutionize healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing) and the application of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, Caris has created the large-scale clinico-genomic database and cognitive computing needed to analyze and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This convergence of data and machine learning provides an unmatched resource and the ideal path forward to conduct the basic, fundamental research to accelerate discovery for detection, diagnosis, monitoring, therapy selection and drug development to improve the human condition.

With a primary focus on cancer, Caris’ suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assesses DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps patients, physicians and researchers better detect, diagnose and treat patients. The company’s latest advancement, Caris Assure™, is a blood-based, circulating nucleic acids sequencing (cNAS) assay that combines comprehensive molecular analysis (Whole Exome and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing from blood) and serial monitoring – making it the most powerful liquid biopsy assay ever developed.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris or its distributors provide services in the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University is leading efforts to translate scientific discoveries into better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked among the nation’s top 10 by U.S. News & World Report in its list of “Best Hospitals for Cancer,” and recognized as the top cancer program in Illinois and Chicago. Learn more about the Lurie Cancer Center and our impact at Cancer.Northwestern.edu.