The strong results from the previously presented EFECT study have now been published in the scientific, and highly renowned, European Journal of Cancer (impact factor 7.191 which equals to top 3% of scientific journal ranking).
The study, which evaluated standard hormonal therapies in metastatic breast cancer, used the DiviTum® blood test as a non-invasive tool to monitor therapy efficacy. A total of 244 patients had their blood samples analyzed with DiviTum® and the study found a clear connection between serum thymidine kinase (TK) activity, a circulating prognostic and monitoring biomarker for patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with hormonal therapy, and the efficacy of the treatment.
TK plays a critical role in DNA synthesis and cell proliferation. Evaluating treatment with DiviTum® obtains important information on treatment efficacy. Patients resistant to on-going hormonal therapies can be identified via a blood sample, enabling alternative treatment options.
The result has previously been presented at the ASCO 2018 congress.
“Endocrine therapy remains the backbone treatment of choice for patients with metastatic breast cancer expressing hormone receptors; however, as clinicians, we currently do not have tools to early identify those patients who will do good with endocrine therapy alone or may need additional treatment. The results from our work with DiviTum® are exciting and confirm, in a larger number of patients, our previous observation that this assay may indeed help clinicians in this hard task. DiviTum® will certainly become a very useful tool for the development of innovative clinical trials in this field, and ultimately for clinical practice.” – says Dr Luca Malorni, MD, PhD, Prato Hospital, Italy.
“These results reinforce what we have seen in previous studies, proving that DiviTum® can provide clinically relevant information highly beneficial for women with advanced breast cancer on hormonal therapy.” – says Anders Rylander, CEO Biovica and continues, ”These results strengthen our belief that DiviTum® can contribute to a better treatment outcome for cancer patients.”
The blood samples analyzed in the EFECT study was a collaboration between AstraZeneca, Prato Hospital, Italy, Institute Jules Bordet, Belgium, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Canada, Northwestern University in Chicago, USA and Biovica, Sweden.
Link to publication: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959804919302230