Biovica, active in cancer diagnostics, today announced that positive results on CDK 4/6 standard therapy from a clinical study at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Washington University School of Medicine, US, is published in npj Breast Cancer, a Nature open access journal dedicated to publishing the finest research on breast cancer research and treatment. The study supports using DiviTum®TKa to monitor efficacy during treatment and for prediction of response to the CDK 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib, a standard therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer.
“The publication in npj Breast Cancer is a great recognition for DiviTum®TKa. It is impressive how DiviTum®TKa demonstrates an ability to identify disease progression many months ahead of imaging. The publication is yet another important step in establishing the test as a routine tool for monitoring metastatic breast cancer," said Anders Rylander, CEO of Biovica.
The study examines the capability of DiviTum®TKa to be an early predictor of treatment efficacy, and as a tool for serial monitoring of women with metastatic breast cancer. The study tests a new dosing schedule of a CDK 4/6 inhibitor (palbociclib) and uses DiviTum®TKa to predict response of the therapy. Serum samples were collected pre-treatment and during therapy from 51 patients.
Results show that patients with a tumor response or no disease progression as their best response had significantly lower DiviTum®TKa values at baseline than patients with progressive disease as their best response. During serial monitoring a rise in thymidine kinase activity (TKa) predicted disease progression several months prior to progression defined by imaging. The study investigators conclude that serum TKa levels at baseline and TKa dynamics during therapy show promise for response prediction and monitoring of palbociclib therapy.
“The results from our study support using DiviTum®TKa to monitor efficacy during treatment and predict response to palbociclib, a standard therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer. It is interesting to learn that DiviTum®TKa can identify progression many months ahead of imaging,” said Jairam Krishnamurthy, Principal Investigator of the study at Division of Oncology/Hematology, University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The first results of this CDK 4/6 dosing study were presented at the world´s leading breast cancer conference, SABCS, in early December 2020.
Link to the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41523-022-00399-w