– ABOUT

Exceptional responders

The Garvan Institute for Medical Research, with support from Bioplatforms Australia and the Kinghorn Foundation, leads a project to investigate exceptional responders in various clinical trials across Australia. These individuals exhibit unique responses to therapies and environmental factors due to natural genetic differences.

The advent of routine whole genome sequencing and analysis at the Garvan Institute has enabled the identification of genes underlying such responses. In 2019/20, 99 exceptional response patients were referred to the institute from 33 clinicians across the nation, showcasing remarkable cases of disease response in melanoma, sarcoma, prostate, and urothelial cancers. This project is not only enhancing our understanding of human biology but also uncovering new pathways for disease treatment.

The project extends its scope to include other clinical trials in fields such as immunology, hematology, rheumatology, renal, gastroenterology, and endocrinology in the future. Through genomic analysis of exceptional responders, researchers are identifying genetic and molecular changes driving treatment responses, to reveal biomarkers for predicting responses in other patients undergoing similar treatments.