Recently, Genomic Health, Inc. (GHDX) announced the global commercial availability of its Oncotype DX colon cancer test. The 12-gene diagnostic test aims to predict individual recurrence risk in stage II colon cancer patients after surgery. The Genomic Health test is the first multigene expression test developed for assessing the risk of recurrence in patients suffering from stage II colon cancer.
Stage II colon cancer (also known as Dukes’ Stage B) affects approximately 30,000 -40,000 people annually in the United States and the current treatment paradigm is not very clear. About a third of the patients receive chemotherapy post surgery. However, research indicates that chemotherapy benefits only 2% to 4% of patients. Furthermore, the treatment has significant associated toxicity.
The decision to treat patients with chemotherapy post surgery is based on an assessment of how likely it is for the disease to recur. Consequently, determining the optimal treatment for stage II patients is a significant challenge in clinical practice.
The availability of the colon cancer version of the test will go a long way in meeting this challenge. We believe that Genomic Health can be a useful player in the colon cancer market in addition to the breast cancer market where its Oncotype DX breast cancer assay is already available.
The Oncotype DX breast cancer assay is the growth engine of the Genomic Health. The assay, launched in January 2004, is used in early stage breast cancer patients to predict cancer recurrence, patient survival within 10 years of diagnosis and benefits of chemotherapy. More than 8,000 physicians have ordered in excess of 135,000 Oncotype DX tests globally for their breast cancer patients, as of Dec 2009.
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