Epic Sciences Joins Forces with Canadian Consortium of Investigators to Predict Late Recurrence of Metastatic Breast Cancer
Epic Sciences (“Epic”), is collaborating with four major breast cancer centers on a clinical trial to determine if Epic’s blood test can be used to predict which women, who have already been treated for localized breast cancer, are at risk of late recurrence of metastatic breast cancer. Renowned breast cancer researcher Dr. Pamela Goodwin, Director of Mount Sinai Hospital’s Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital, which is part of Sinai Health System in Toronto, Canada, will lead the trial. Other cancer centers include Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and BC Cancer. Together, they will enroll approximately 1,000 patients over the course of three years. In addition to Epic Sciences donating the technology for the trial, it is being supported by Hold’em for Life Charity Challenge and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Clinical recurrence of localized breast cancer can occur throughout a patient’s life, with the majority of recurrences occurring five to 15 years after diagnosis. Each year, a patient has approximately a one to five percent chance of recurrence. Currently, there is no test to monitor which patients are at risk of recurrence during a given year. However, new data has shown that using a test to measure circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients in remission can predict which patients are at elevated risk of recurrence over the next two years.
“Millions of women, already treated for localized breast cancer, are in remission but are still at risk of a clinical recurrence of metastatic breast cancer,” said Dr. Goodwin, who is also a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. “The potential for a blood test to help identify which patients need to be closely monitored and considered for earlier therapy is an unmet need facing breast cancer treatment management.”
Epic Sciences No Cell Left Behind® technology has demonstrated best-in-class detection of individual CTCs which are a mode of cancer to exit dormancy and initiate a new metastatic cancer lesion. By using the blood test to monitor women already treated for breast cancer, the study could help validate the test and determine if the presence of CTCs can predict the recurrence of lethal breast cancer.
“Clinically validating that our blood test can identify which breast cancer patients will be at risk of recurrence is an incredibly valuable aid in our pursuit to improve outcomes and wellbeing,” said Ryan Dittamore, chief of medical innovation at Epic Sciences. “Of equal importance, it can also help inform the millions of women being treated for breast cancer that they are not at risk of metastasis. We are excited and confident in our ability to make a difference in the management of breast cancer globally.”
Epic Sciences has already developed and validated a clinical blood test, called Oncotype DX® AR-V7 Nucleus DetectTM, for metastatic prostate cancer to help guide therapeutic decisions. Epic currently partners with 65 biopharma companies, 45 academic institutes and is involved in more than 250 clinical studies to provide valuable insights into the dynamics of cancer growth, evolution, and heterogeneity.
About Epic Sciences
Epic Sciences, Inc. is developing novel diagnostics to personalize and advance the treatment and management of cancer. Epic Sciences’ mission is to enable the rapid and non-invasive detection of genetic and molecular changes in cancer throughout a patient’s journey. The company was founded on a powerful platform to identify and characterize rare cells, including circulating tumor cells. Epic Sciences No Cell Left Behind® technology helps match patients to therapies and monitor for drug resistance, so that the best treatment path can be chosen at every clinical decision point. Epic Sciences has partnered with Genomic Health to commercialize the Oncotype DX® AR-V7 Nucleus DetectTM test, which helps with therapeutic decisions between taxane chemotherapy or androgen-directed therapeutics in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Today, we partner with leading pharmaceutical companies and major cancer centers around the world. Epic Sciences’ goal is to increase the success rate of cancer drugs in clinical trials and improve patient outcomes by providing physicians real-time information to guide treatment choices. Epic Sciences is headquartered in San Diego.
Further information is available on the Company’s website, www.epicsciences.com. Stay in touch on Linkedin, on Twitter @EpicSciences or on Facebook.com/EpicSciences.
Epic Sciences Media Contact: Jessica Yingling, Ph.D., Little Dog Communications Inc., jessica@litldog.com, +1.858.344.8091