QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - DiagnoCure Inc. (TSX: CUR), a life sciences company commercializing high-value cancer diagnostic tests and delivering laboratory services, reported today that PCA3, the Company's highly specific prostate cancer marker, is featured in an important article in the November issue of the Journal of Urology. The new published study supports the use of a PCA3-based test as a tool for better assessing the prognosis of prostate cancer.
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PCA3 shows prognostic value
The Journal of Urology article (180: 1975-1979, 2008) reports on a study of 72 men with prostate cancer from whom post digital rectal examination urine specimens were collected, before radical prostatectomy, and tested for both PCA3 and serum PSA. The PCA3 score was shown to be a better indicator for prostate cancer stage than PSA because it more accurately predicted the spread of prostate cancer beyond the prostate capsule. The study also established a correlation between the tumor volume and the PCA3 score, which could represent an excellent marker for following patients on active surveillance.
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"We are pleased that more peer-reviewed scientific publications continue to confirm PCA3's clinical value. There are many clinical questions about a patient's cancer that require reliable answers to make appropriate treatment and surveillance decisions. PCA3 is currently used to better predict biopsy outcome, but with additional studies such as this one, PCA3 is promising to be even more clinically useful for prostate cancer patients", stated John Schafer, President and CEO of DiagnoCure.
The PCA3 test is now available across the European Union and from five laboratories in the United-States that offer a PCA3-based test using analyst specific reagents (ASR) manufactured by Gen-Probe. The test is also available at two clinical laboratories in Canada.
About DiagnoCure
DiagnoCure (TSX: CUR) 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 Oncology Laboratories, a subsidiary of DiagnoCure Inc., recently launched the Previstage(TM) GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test, the first GCC-based molecular test for the management of colorectal cancer. The Company also has a strategic alliance with Gen-Probe (NASDAQ: GPRO) for the development and commercialization of a second-generation prostate cancer test using PCA3, DiagnoCure's proprietary molecular marker. This test is also 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.
SOURCE DIAGNOCURE INC.
