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Rosetta Genomics and M. D. Anderson to Develop a MicroRNA-based Diagnostic Test to Identify Risk of Recurrence of Lung Cancer

Friday, June 6, 2008 General News
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REHOVOT, Israel and JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, June 6 Rosetta Genomics, Ltd. (NASDQ: ROSG), a leader inthe development of microRNA-based diagnostic and therapeutic products,announced today a research collaboration with The University of Texas M. D.Anderson Cancer Center and the Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers todevelop a microRNA- based diagnostic test to predict risk of diseaserecurrence in lung cancer patients who have undergone curative resection.
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Current treatment for lung cancer includes surgical resection which maybe followed by adjuvant therapy. While patients with high risk of recurrencemay benefit from adjuvant therapy, those with low risk of recurrence may beexposed to unnecessary toxicities. The goal of this collaboration is todevelop a test that will enable physicians to distinguish between patientswith high and low risk of recurrence to optimize treatment regimens.
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"The potential diagnostic applications of microRNA biomarkers are broadand diverse," noted Amir Avniel, president and CEO of Rosetta Genomics. "Weare very pleased to be collaborating with M. (space) D. Anderson, one of theworld's leading cancer research centers, on this important project in lungcancer. We believe that the experience we have in working with microRNAbiomarkers, combined with M. (space) D. Anderson's extensive experience inlung cancer research, makes this a strong collaboration which may have asignificant impact on the way lung cancer patients are diagnosed and treated."

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and womenworldwide and in the United States. In 2008 alone, there will be about215,020 new cases of lung cancer in the United States, and approximately160,000 people will die of the disease(1).

"We are quickly learning about the benefits of better diagnostics inoptimizing treatment administration," said Ignacio I. Wistuba, M.D.,associate professor, Department of Pathology at

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "Currently, the lack of sensitivediagnostic tools means lung cancer patients, who have undergone a resection,may be administered aggressive chemotherapy despite the fact that they are atlow risk of the cancer recurring. By leveraging microRNAs' unique sensitivityas biomarkers, we have an opportunity to develop a novel test that willassist clinicians and patients to better manage this type of cancer."

"The use of miRNA with existing genomic and proteomic information willhelp us achieve the goal of personalization of the treatment," said GordonMills, co-director of the Kleberg Center for Molecular Markers, at M. D.Anderson Cancer Center.

"This is one of the many collaborations with industry leaders that theKleberg Center is building to bring novel technologies to achieve our missionof affecting treatment changes," said Rahul Mitra, associate director of theKleberg Center.

About microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are recently discovered, naturally occurring, smallRNAs that act as master regulators and have the potential to form the basisfor a new class of diagnostics and therapeutics. Since many diseases arecaused by the abnormal activity of proteins, the ability to selectivelyregulate protein activity through microRNAs could provide the means to treata wide range of human diseases. In addition, microRNAs have been shown tohave different expression in various pathological conditions. As a result,these differences may provide for a novel diagnostic strategy for manydiseases.

About Rosetta Genomics

Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG) is a leader in the field of microRNAs.Founded in 2000, the company's integrative research platform combiningbioinformatics and state-of-the-art laboratory processes has led to thediscovery of hundreds of biologically validated novel human microRNAs.Building on its strong IP position and proprietary platform technologies,Rosetta Genomics i
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