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Applied Research and Development

Studies of Stool-Based DNA Screening 
 
The Science Behind Stool-Based DNA Screening 
 
Resource Center

Applied Research and Development

EXACT Sciences’ applied research group continues to explore new and advanced technologies that may have applicability both to colorectal cancer and other cancers.

Ongoing Research

Novel Hypermethylated DNA Markers
EXACT Sciences’ researchers are studying the novel use of hypermethylated DNA markers in stool for the detection of colorectal cancer.

Digital Oligonucleotide Tiling (DOT)
EXACT Sciences’ researchers have developed a novel, proprietary mutation-scanning technique known as Digital Oligonucleotide Tiling (DOT). DOT enables one to scan large sections of a gene for mutations without knowing the exact locations of such mutations.

Digital PCR
Digital PCR is a technology that EXACT Sciences licensed exclusively from John’s Hopkins University in 2003. Digital PCR is a method that may be usable to enhance the ability to detect small numbers of mutated gene sequences amidst large volumes of normal gene sequences.

Additional Research

EXACT Sciences may also focus its research into areas beyond colorectal cancer detection in an effort to identify technologies and methods that may be useful for the early detection of other common cancers. The guiding principle of this research forms the basis for the company’s core mission and beliefs – simply, that the early detection of cancer saves lives.

DNA Integrity Assay (DIA®)
EXACT Sciences is further validating its observations around the value of its proprietary DNA Integrity Assay (DIA®) in cancer detection. The presence of these longer strands of DNA may be associated with escape from apoptosis, (programmed, normal cell death) which itself is the hallmark of cancer. EXACT Sciences may ultimately apply this theory in investigating DIA’s potential in:

• Early detection of other common cancers among average-risk individuals.
• Disease monitoring for transitions from benign proliferative disorders (polyps, cysts, warts, etc.) to malignant tumors.
• Intra-individual therapeutic monitoring (watching for the disappearance of DIA-positive DNA).
• Screening post-therapy to detect recurrence.
• Use as a single marker as a broad colorectal cancer screening tool.

"Click here" to view 90 second educational movie:
the adenoma/carcinoma sequence and stool-based DNA testing

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