QUEBEC CITY, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - DiagnoCure Inc. , a life sciences company commercializing high-value cancer diagnostic tests and delivering laboratory services, announced today that four prominent colorectal cancer key opinion leaders have agreed to serve on the Strategic Advisory Board of its wholly owned subsidiary, DiagnoCure Oncology Laboratories.
The Strategic Advisory Board is composed of Dr. Edith Mitchell, MD, FACP, Clinical Professor of Medicine & Medical Oncology at Jefferson Kimmel Cancer Center; Dr. Stanley R. Hamilton, MD, Professor and Head, Division of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the MD Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Daniel J. Sargent, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics and Oncology and Director of Cancer Statistics at Mayo Clinic; Dr. Martin R. Weiser, MD, Surgical Oncologist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Their mandate consists of advising the Company on a number of issues related to Previstage(TM) GCC and the Company's commercialization efforts.
"DiagnoCure is proud to count on these top renowned specialists to provide critical input on the positioning of the test and its future improvements," stated John Schafer, President and CEO of DiagnoCure.
Dr. Hamilton commented on the importance of improving the identification of colorectal cancer patients who appear to be free of disease after surgical removal of their tumor but later develop recurrent cancer. "The Previstage(TM) GCC test may improve upon the staging of colorectal cancer that is the major basis for the decision on whether or not chemotherapy is given after surgery to attempt to decrease the likelihood of recurrence. The test appears to detect metastatic tumor in lymph nodes that is not found by the current standard pathologic methods and may identify patients who are at higher risk for recurrence than their pathologic stage indicates."
"Molecular tests are proving to be important in clinical practice. This assay has the potential to detect occult metastases and may improve staging which could ultimately lead to greater confidence for physicians and patients when selecting treatment options," concluded Dr. Weiser.
About Previstage(TM) GCC
Staging a patient with colorectal cancer is crucial because it determines the patient's course of treatment. Current standard of care requires that pathologists examine microscopically a thin slice of tissue from the lymph nodes harvested during the patient's surgery to see if cancer has spread beyond the intestine. Currently, up to 25 - 30 percent of patients with no pathologically-positive lymph nodes (stage I and II cancers) later return with recurrent disease, presumably through occult metastases that have escaped detection. Most of these patients do not receive additional therapies such as chemotherapy. Previstage(TM) GCC aims to provide clinicians a significantly more sensitive assay for staging a patient with colorectal cancer that will increase their confidence in making critical treatment decisions.
Strong early data supported the potential importance of the GCC test in improving the staging of colorectal patients. This resulted in the National Cancer Institute sponsoring a prospective clinical trial of GCC testing in colorectal cancer patients conducted over five years. This study has been completed and the Company's collaborators at Thomas Jefferson University will continue to present the results of the study at major medical conferences throughout the year.
About DiagnoCure
DiagnoCure is a life sciences company commercializing high-value cancer diagnostic tests and delivering laboratory services that increase clinician and patient confidence in making critical treatment decisions. DiagnoCure is currently preparing to launch the Previstage(TM) GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test, the first GCC-based molecular test for the management of colorectal cancer. In 2003, the Company entered into a strategic alliance with Gen-Probe for the development and commercialization of a second- generation test for PCA3, DiagnoCure's proprietary molecular marker highly specific to prostate cancer. The test is now available through laboratories in the U.S. using PCA3 analyte specific reagents (ASR) from Gen-Probe, in Europe as the CE-marked PROGENSA(TM) PCA3 in vitro assay, and in Canada. In addition to its own research, the Company intends to acquire or in-license additional promising cancer biomarkers from both academic and commercial institutions. For more information, visit www.diagnocure.com.
Forward-looking statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expected. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are based on expectations and hypotheses and also involve risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, many of which are beyond DiagnoCure's control. As a result, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements regarding the outcome of research and development projects, clinical studies and future revenues are based on management expectations. In addition, the reader is referred to the applicable general risks and uncertainties described in DiagnoCure's most recent Annual Information Form under the heading "Risk Factors". DiagnoCure undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein.
CONTACT: Contact: DiagnoCure Inc.: JF Bureau, Chief Financial Officer,
(418) 527-6100, communications@diagnocure.com; Media: U.S.: Troy Pearson,
Mentus Life Science, (858) 455-5500 X320, Troy@mentus.com; Canada:
Jean-Pierre Trudel, Jean-Pierre Trudel & Associates, (514) 347-6111,
jp.trudel@videotron.ca
