Genetic Signature Validated for Early-Stage Colon Cancer

(Wikimedia Commons)

ChipDX LLC, an online molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine company in New York, New York, says it discovered and validated a genetic signature for early-stage colon cancer. The company is developing an online screening application for clinicians to more accurately identify risk of recurrence. The study is published in the December issue of the British Journal of Cancer (paid subscription required).

In the study, ChipDX demonstrates how the 163-gene signature separates colon cancer patients into high- and low-risk groups for recurrence with greater accuracy than current methods, including clinical staging. ChipDX makes the algorithm available for research use only through an online gene expression analysis platform. The company is also reviewing regulatory requirements and partners to market it as a test for future use.

Colon cancer, which has recorded nearly 103,000 cases in the U.S. so far this year, is the fourth most common form of cancer in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the western world. Physicians currently use a method called clinical staging to measure the extent of disease spread at the time of diagnosis. Patients who are diagnosed with early-stage tumors generally do not receive chemotherapy. However, some 20 percent of stage 2 patients develop recurrence within five years.

*     *     *