New findings validate clinical utility in Colorectal Cancer
Staging
MONTREAL,
May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -
DiagnoCure Inc. (TSX: CUR) (OTCQX: DGCRF) (the "Corporation"),
today announced that results from a large validation study of the
PrevistageTM GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test have
been selected for presentation at the 2013 American Society of
Clinical Oncology® (ASCO®) Annual Meeting,
taking place in Chicago, Illinois
from May 31 to June 4, 2013. The
results of the second phase of the VITAR (Validating Indicators To
Associate Recurrence Risk) study, which included 463 untreated
stage II (T3N0) colon cancer patients from North American and
European clinical sites will be presented during this annual
meeting. These patients had not been treated with adjuvant
chemotherapy mainly because their lymph nodes appeared cancer‐free
by examination under the microscope, yet 10% of them had a disease
recurrence or died from cancer afterwards.
The presentation titled "Guanylyl cyclase C
(GCC) expression in lymph nodes (LNs) as a determinant of
recurrence in stage II colon cancer (CC) patients (pts)" (Abstract
#3639), will be exhibited on Sunday, June
2, 8:00 AM - 11:45 AM, S
Hall A2.
"Our new study supports the prognostic value of
our PrevistageTM GCC assay independently of traditional
histopathology risk factors. In order to establish a risk of
recurrence for the stage II patients, the study focused on the
positive LN ratio (LNR), defined as the number of nodes in which
cancer cells were identified with the PrevistageTM GCC
test, divided by the total number of nodes examined," said Dr
Yves Fradet, President and Chief
Medical Officer of DiagnoCure. "We believe that
PrevistageTM GCC has the potential to improve management
of untreated stage II colon cancer."
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 surgery.
Nonetheless, up to 20% of them suffer recurrence of a more advanced
cancer. To date, results of published studies totaling over 1,000
patients have shown that, compared with traditionally-used factors,
the GCC biomarker is a better predictor of disease recurrence in
early‐stage colorectal cancer patients. PrevistageTM GCC
is currently the only colorectal cancer staging test 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.
About DiagnoCure
DiagnoCure (TSX: CUR; OTCQX: DGCRF) is a life
sciences corporation that develops and commercializes high-value
cancer diagnostic tests that increase clinician and patient
confidence in making critical treatment decisions. In 2008, the
Corporation launched a colorectal cancer staging test through its
U.S. CLIA laboratory. PrevistageTM GCC is currently
available for licensing. The Corporation has also granted a
worldwide exclusive license to Gen-Probe, now a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Hologic Inc. operating as Hologic Gen-Probe, for the
development and commercialization of a prostate cancer test using
PCA3, DiagnoCure's proprietary molecular biomarker. Hologic
Gen-Probe's PROGENSA® PCA3 test is commercialized in Europe under CE mark and is approved for
commercialization in Canada and
the United States. For more
information, please visit www.diagnocure.com.
Forward‐looking statements
This release may contain forward‐looking
statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from
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thereon. Forward-looking statements also include any other
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forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe-harbour"
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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.
Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of
assisting investors and others in understanding certain key
elements of the Corporation's current objectives, strategic
priorities, expectations and plans, and in obtaining a better
understanding of the Corporation's business and anticipated
operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information
may not be appropriate for other purposes and that they should not
place undue reliance on these forward‐looking statements. For
instance, any forward-looking statements regarding the outcome of
research and development projects, clinical studies and future
revenues, including those related to PROGENSA® PCA3, are based on
management expectations and such outcome may vary materially
depending on global political and economic conditions, dependence
on collaboration partners, uncertainty of healthcare reimbursement,
and marketing and distribution challenges. 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.
SOURCE DiagnoCure inc.
