DiagnoCure Inc announced that its proprietary prostate cancer biomarker PCA3 was the topic of over 13 presentations at the 2010 European Association of Urology (EAU) meeting, the world largest urology event, held in Barcelona, Spain, with 14,000 registrants.
PCA3 was discussed by prominent researchers who presented reviews and data on the clinical value of the test in the management of prostate cancer, including a new multi-center study which suggested that PCA3 could be useful for predicting the outcome of an initial prostate biopsy, thereby reducing prostate biopsies by 40%, while missing only 5% of the high grade cancers on the initial biopsy.
This new European study of 516 men, which was presented at the meeting, demonstrated that PCA3 could improve the prediction of the outcome of initial prostate biopsies while being indicative of cancer aggressiveness. In the study, patients with a PCA3 score over 35 were almost 3 times more likely to have a positive initial prostate biopsy than patients with a score under 35.
The principal investigator, Pr. Alexandre de la Taille from the urology service of Henri Mondor hospital, Creteil, France, explained: “When the results of this study are combined with the results of another study we did on patients with a first negative biopsy, the PCA3 test proved to have a high predictive value as prostate cancer could be detected, at the initial or subsequent biopsy, in about 75% of men with a PCA3 score over 35. Moreover, our new study showed that with a cut-off of 20, 40% of patients could have avoided undergoing a prostate biopsy, while only 5% of the high grade cancers (all grade 7) would have been missed on the initial biopsy.”
In addition, during a plenary session of the EAU, Jack A. Schalken, Professor of experimental urology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Nederlands, reviewed the prostate cancer molecular markers currently being researched, and concluded that PCA3 was by far the most advanced and most promising to answer the currently unmet clinical needs in the management of prostate cancer.
“We are very pleased to see PCA3 advancing at the forefront of the management of prostate cancer. With the growing number of conclusive studies, more and more physicians, patients and governments are convinced of the clinical value the marker. Some pharmaceutical companies are also considering the PCA3 test in their clinical drug trials,” stated Dr. Yves Fradet, President and Chief Medical Officer of DiagnoCure, who attended the EAU meeting.
