Approximately 241,000 men are diagnosed annually in the U.S. with prostate cancer. It is the most common cancer among U.S. males and is responsible for more deaths in men than any other cancer except lung cancer. Today the most common treatments for men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer include surgery, radiation and active surveillance.
PROLARIS
Optimal management of clinically localized prostate cancer presents a unique challenge to physicians and patients, because it is a highly variable and often slow growing, nonaggressive cancer. More men will die with prostate cancer than of it. Prolaris was developed to aid physicians in predicting disease aggressiveness in conjunction with clinical parameters such as Gleason score and PSA. Prolaris measures the expression level of genes involved with cell cycle progression to predict disease outcome. The signature has been evaluated in four retrospective clinical studies:SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 24, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN) announced today that a study published in the British Journal of Cancer demonstrated the prognostic ability of the Company's Prolaris test in needle biopsy material. The study entitled, "Prognostic Value of a Cell Cycle Progression Signature for Prostate Cancer Death in a Conservatively Managed Needle Biopsy Cohort," highlighted the ability of the test to significantly and accurately predict prostate cancer aggressiveness and consequent death from the disease.
"The Prolaris test offers men and healthcare providers a tool to make better-informed treatment decisions based on the aggressiveness of prostate cancer," said Jerry Lanchbury Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Myriad Genetics Inc. "We believe this test will provide critical information needed to avoid unnecessary and life altering morbidities associated with treating the disease in men who have a less aggressive form of prostate cancer."
Researchers at the Queen Mary, University of London, and Myriad, analyzed the Prolaris Score of 349 prostate cancer patients who had been diagnosed by needle biopsy and managed conservatively. The authors concluded that the Prolaris test was the most significant predictor of disease aggressiveness and death, and may be a valuable tool in managing prostate cancer. Specifically, they found that the 81 percent of prostate cancer patients with lower Prolaris Scores when left untreated had an excellent five-year survival rate of 93 percent. Unfortunately, the probability of death from untreated prostate cancer increased significantly in men with high Prolaris Scores. In the 19 percent of prostate cancer patients with higher Prolaris Scores, the five-year survival rate was only 63 percent and the ten-year survival rate was 44 percent.
In discussing the results of the study, the authors highlighted the unmet clinical need in this field, namely, the inability of current clinical parameters to distinguish men with a fast-growing form of prostate cancer who are appropriate for aggressive treatment, such as radical prostatectomy or radiation, from those with an indolent or less aggressive form who are candidates for active surveillance. The Prolaris test was developed to provide a solution for this significant unmet clinical need in an effort to provide patients and physicians with the ability to better predict disease outcome, thereby optimizing treatment and decision making. With this fourth clinical study, the Prolaris test has been shown, in a total of over 1450 patients, to consistently be a highly prognostic tool to assess the aggressiveness of a man's prostate cancer.
Cancer Research UK was involved in funding this research.
For more information:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=246723 or
http://www.myriad.com/products/prolaris.php
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