Company says iFOXA1 can be used interchangeably with Genomic Health’s Oncotype Dx test for disease recurrance.
Clarient obtained commercialization rights to a biomarker that can predict breast cancer recurrence by Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation. The marker under the agreement, FOXA1, was used by researchers to identify patients with low risk, node-negative, ER-positive profiles who do not need chemotherapy, says the company.
FOXA1 is an estrogen receptor (ER) associated transcription factor. Researchers have found that its expression in patient samples correlated with Oncotype Dx, according to Clarient. In the study of 79 ER-positive, node-negative breast cancer patients, researchers found that FOXA1 expression identified the same low risk, ER-positive, node-negative patients who can be spared toxic chemotherapy.
They concluded that Oncotype Dx, produced by Genomic Health, and the FOXA1 marker can potentially be used interchangeably if further validation studies confirm the findings.
“Licensing FOXA1 and better understanding what advantages it might have over competitive tests will help put this marker on a rapid commercial track and support our mission to determine the most effective and reliable ways to evaluate breast cancer recurrence in women with early-stage disease,” says Ron Andrews, Clarient CEO. FOXA1 will also be added to the Clarient Insight Dx program, which aims to provide pathologists and oncologists with a panel of assays that help deliver personalized medicine in the community setting.
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Past News from Clarient
Clarient and Health Discovery to Offer Molecular-Based Test for Prostate Cancer (Jan. 13, 2009)
Clarient Allys with Definiens for Image Analysis Tools for Use in Cancer Diagnostics (Sept. 25, 2008)
Clarient Licenses Health Discovery’s Prostate Cancer Molecular Diagnostic