Concure Oncology has raised $2 million in new funding, helping to fuel growth for the Mercer Island, Wash.-based startup and get more clinicians trained in its innovative radiation treatment for women battling breast cancer.
The new round of cash comes just months after Concure raised $2.5 million in March, bringing total funding for the 6-year-old startup to $14 million.
Concure’s Breast Microseed Treatment is a radiation therapy technique for early-stage breast cancer patients. Also known as low-dose-rate brachytherapy, it’s based on a similar method proven successful in treating prostate cancer.
Concure says its therapy allows post-lumpectomy patients the chance to have a one-time, one-hour procedure, as opposed to conventional radiation that may last from three to six weeks and require daily visits to a radiation facility.
After a tumor is removed, the procedure involves the placement of small titanium seeds filled with radioactive palladium in the patient’s body where the tumor used to be. These seeds, which are about the size of a rice grain, release a small amount of radiation in the former tumor area, killing any cancerous cells that remain and preventing new ones from growing. Once fully released, the seeds become inert, with no radioactivity remaining.
