Exact Sciences Corp. demonstrated a significant increase in accuracy with the latest version of its Cologuard test for colorectal cancer in its pivotal BLUE-C study. Top-line results released this week showed that the next-generation test exceeded the specificity and sensitivity seen in the DEEP-C study that underpinned U.S. FDA approval of the commercially available version of Cologuard, a stool-based assay.
Radiotherapy fractionation has had a significant impact on the morbidity associated with the procedure across a number of cancer types, and the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says it may be time to fractionate further for some breast cancer patients.
Avenda Health Inc. reported new study results showing its Unfold AI platform, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to map a tumor’s location within the prostate, encapsulates all of the clinically significant cancer present in the gland more effectively than standard care.
Breakthroughs in early detection of cancer offer increasing hope for better outcomes and longer lives for individuals affected by malignancies. This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting highlighted strong results from several companies at the forefront of this potential transformation.
In the flurry of presentations on early detection of cancer at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Grail LLC stood out for the number of sessions and the strength of its results. In a real-world study presented, Grail’s Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test cancer signal origin (CSO) demonstrated accuracy of 91%.
Creo Medical Group plc says it is poised to address the mismatch between the advances in screening technology, which are making it possible to detect early-stage lung cancer, and the current invasive and inappropriate methods of treating it, following the first-in-human use of its Microblate Flex microwave ablation device.
The 2023 American Society for Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting featured several notable developments on the diagnostics side, including significant advances in multi-cancer early detection (MCED). Grail Inc. presented its results from SYMPLIFY, the first major study of its MCED test in symptomatic patients. The test showed a negative predictive value of more than 97% and a positive predictive value that exceeded 75% in individuals who presented to primary care with non-specific symptoms that prompted a referral for cancer evaluation.
A study of more than a thousand tumor samples, led by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, gives valuable insight into the different gene expression patterns seen in different cancers. The new findings could help address challenges associated with targeting many types of tumors, which are hard to treat in large part due to the variable nature of their cells and gene expression patterns, by helping to create better targeted therapeutics.
If Orlucent Inc. has its way atypical moles in adults will soon give up their secrets to clinicians on the lookout for skin cancer, this after the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company received a U.S. FDA breakthrough device designation for its non-invasive Orlucent skin fluorescence imaging system. The system is a hand-held point-of-care molecular-based imaging device that identifies “tissue remodeling activity” inside atypical moles that could be a precursor to early melanoma.
The U.S. FDA has issued a final guidance for non-clinical performance testing for tissue containment bags used during power morcellation procedures, and the FDA had recommended in 2020 containment bags always be used during morcellation procedures. Despite the FDA’s advisory, a survey of surgeons published last year suggested that most of these procedures are not done with these containment systems, possibly because the rate of procedure-related complications is considerably higher when containment is used.