QUEBEC CITY, Jan. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - DiagnoCure, Inc. (TSX: CUR), a life sciences company that develops and commercializes high‐value cancer diagnostic tests, today announced that its partner for the PrevistageTM GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test, Signal Genetics, reported the results of a new study presented on January 21 at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium held in San Francisco, CA. The poster entitled "Guanylyl Cyclase C (GCC) Lymph Nodes (LN) Classification as a Prognostic Marker in Patients with Stage II Colon Cancer: A Pooled Analysis" confirms prognostic capabilities of the Previstage test in patients with colon cancer.
Based on the pooled individual data analysis on 310 patients and involving researchers and collaborators from several centers, the study shows that the GCC levels allow an effective stratification of patients between those that are essentially cured and those at high risk of disease recurrence. The 5-year recurrence risks were estimated at 11% and 32% for the low and high risk groups respectively. Higher detection levels of GCC in lymph nodes were also significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, disease-specific survival, and disease-free survival.
About Colorectal Cancer and PrevistageTM GCC
Every year in the United States and Canada, 165,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Of that number, 69,000 are considered at low risk after their surgery. Yet, up to 20% of them suffer recurrence of a more advanced cancer.
PrevistageTM GCC is currently the only colorectal cancer staging test on the market that provides prognostic information based on the tumor burden measured at the molecular level in the lymph nodes. Tumor burden in the lymph nodes has become more widely recognized by treating physicians as a key prognostic factor to determine the risk of recurrence of cancer patients, and hence, to determine which patients might benefit most from adjuvant chemotherapy and which could be safely managed without chemotherapy.
To date, results of published studies totaling over 1,000 patients have shown that the GCC biomarker is a better predictor, than traditionally-used factors, of disease recurrence in early-stage colorectal cancer patients.
In particular, in a recent study (Annals of Surgical Oncology, May 2011), in a sub-set of 181 stage II colon cancer patients, the PrevistageTM GCC test classified one-third of patients as having a high risk of recurrence following surgery and two-thirds of patients at low risk of recurrence. The high risk group had a six times greater likelihood of recurrence than the low risk group (27% versus 4%).
About DiagnoCure
DiagnoCure (TSX: CUR) is a life sciences company that develops and commercializes high-value cancer diagnostic tests that increase clinician and patient confidence in making critical treatment decisions. In 2008, the Company launched the PrevistageTM GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test through its U.S. CLIA laboratory, and granted the worldwide exclusive rights to this test to Signal Genetics in June 2011. The Company also has a strategic alliance with Gen-Probe (NASDAQ: GPRO) for the development and commercialization of a second-generation prostate cancer test using PCA3, DiagnoCure's proprietary molecular biomarker. The PROGENSA® PCA3 test is commercialized in Europe under CE mark and was recently approved in Canada; in the United States, the test is commercialized through clinical laboratories using PCA3 analyte specific reagents from Gen‐Probe; a PMA application was filed with the FDA. For more information, visit www.diagnocure.com.
Forward‐looking statements
This release contains forward‐looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expected. By their very nature, forward‐looking statements are based on expectations and hypotheses and also involve risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, many of which are beyond DiagnoCure's control. As a result, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward‐looking statements. The forward-looking statements regarding the outcome of research and development projects, clinical studies and future revenues are based on management expectations. In addition, the reader is referred to the applicable general risks and uncertainties described in DiagnoCure's most recent Annual Information Form under the heading "Risk Factors". DiagnoCure undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward‐looking statements contained herein unless required by the applicable securities laws and regulations.
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