SALT LAKE CITY, March 2, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc.
(Nasdaq:MYGN) today announced the launch of PROLARIS(TM), a 46-gene
prognostic test which quantitatively determines the risk of recurrence
in patients who have undergone prostatectomy surgery. For the first
time, physicians now have a direct molecular measure of a prostate
tumor's capacity to divide and grow by examining the mechanics of
growth at the molecular level. PROLARIS is the Company's eighth
molecular diagnostic product and the first of two that are planned to
be launched this year.
"After undergoing a radical prostatectomy, men often worry about their
continuing risk of cancer recurrence," said Peter R. Carroll, M.D.,
M.P.H., Professor and Chair, Urology, University of California, San
Francisco. "PROLARIS may offer very important information to the
patient and his physician about the risk of his cancer recurring."
PROLARIS is a molecular diagnostic assay that offers urologists a more
accurate way of determining a prostate cancer patient's risk of
recurrence. The new molecular diagnostic test is based on cell growth
and tumor biology and provides rigorous, quantitative measures of the
expression levels of multiple genes related to progression of the cell
cycle.
The test identifies patients at low risk of disease recurrence with 95%
certainty giving these men confidence that additional aggressive
treatment with the accompanying toxicity and adverse events is likely
unwarranted. Conversely, men with high PROLARIS scores would be
considered for more intensive screening and adjuvant therapy to address
their more aggressive disease.
The Company is performing additional clinical validation studies to
expand the utility of PROLARIS. In one such recently completed study of
365 prostate cancer patients, 98.5% of prostate cancer patients with a
low (favorable) PROLARIS score survived their disease after 10 years,
compared to 57.6% of the patients receiving a high (unfavorable) score
who died of prostate cancer within 10 years.
"PROLARIS is a valuable additional tool that will enable urologists to
provide an accurate, individualized recurrence risk score to men who
have undergone a radical prostatectomy," stated Mark C. Capone,
President, Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. "We view PROLARIS as the
first of a strong emerging stable of RNA signature tools based on
fundamental tumor biology which Myriad will offer to the
urology/oncology community."
In the United States, 192,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer
each year and 80,000 men will undergo a radical prostatectomy, a
surgical procedure that removes the prostate gland and some surrounding
tissue. Approximately 35% of these men will eventually have a
biochemical recurrence indicating the return of their prostate cancer.
Current models based on clinical variables cannot effectively predict
in which of these men the disease will recur.
Myriad will introduce PROLARIS to urologists and oncologists through
its established oncology sales force and new urology sales team in the
coming weeks. The cost for PROLARIS is $3,400.
Clinical Data on PROLARIS to be Presented
The clinical validation and scientific data supporting PROLARIS will be
presented at the 2010 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium on March 5-7,
2010 in San Francisco. The abstract of the presentation entitled: "Cell
Cycle Genes Predict Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy" by Dr.
Gregory P. Swanson and colleagues will be publically released on the
American Society of Clinical Oncology's website, www.asco.org on
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:00 pm Eastern.
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a leading molecular diagnostic company focused
on developing and marketing novel predictive medicine, personalized
medicine and prognostic medicine products. Myriad's news and other
information are available on the Company's Web site at www.myriad.com.
Myriad, the Myriad logo, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, Melaris,
TheraGuide, Prezeon, OnDose, and Prolaris are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign
countries. MYGN-G
The Myriad Genetics, Inc. logo is available at
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