Colorectal Cancer Management
Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer has one of the highest prevalence of any cancer in North America. Il it estimated that it will strike approximately 174,000 people and cause nearly 61,000 deaths in 2008 in the United States and Canada. With an overall 5-year survival rate of 64%, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, accounting for almost 10% of all cancer deaths.
Colorectal cancer develops slowly as premalignant polyps that occur on the bowel wall and eventually increase in size and become cancerous.
GCC marker for Colorectal Cancer
In recent years, a unique cell surface molecule, found on colorectal cells, both normal and cancerous, but not on any normal cells outside the intestine, has been discovered. This receptor, called guanylyl cyclase C (GCC), provides a superior mechanism for detecting the presence of colorectal cancer cells because it relies on ultrasensitive messenger RNA-based amplification technology rather than other less sensitive and variable detection systems, such as the hispathology.
On April 30, 2007, DiagnoCure secured exclusive worldwide diagnostic rights to the GCC marker and its potential utility in colorectal cancer. In early research, the marker has shown to be highly accurate in detecting the spread or recurrence of colorectal cancer, in lymph nodes or blood, thereby representing a significant improvement over current detection methods.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided more than $10 million in funding for two five-year multicenter clinical studies on 2,500 colorectal cancer patients. Preliminary results on the GCC lymph node study for staging colorectal cancer, which started in 2003, corroborate the conclusion of earlier research; this study is now completed and is expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal..
DiagnoCure intends to launch a GCC lymph node test for the staging of colorectal cancer in 2008, under the trademark Previstage™ GCC. The North American market for this first test is approximately 97,000 American and Canadian patients who, each year, receive a “node-negative” diagnosis (stages I and II) following a colorectal surgery; up to 30% of the time, this diagnosis is incorrect, and the Previstage™ GCC has the potential to identify those people who have been under-staged.
More on Previstage™ GCC Colorectal Staging Test »
More on the GCC monitoring blood test »
Shc Proteins for Colon Cancer Prognostics
In August 2007, DiagnoCure acquired Catalyst Oncology and its lead proprietary prognostic tests for breast, colon and potentially other cancers. The newly acquired tests have the potential to increase clinician and patient confidence when making critical treatment decisions and will complement the Company’s GCC tests for colorectal cancer.
The Shc protein-based tests have been validated in multiple clinical studies involving patients with five tumor types, including breast and colon. Results have shown the tests to be strong indicators for a patient’s risk of disease recurrence, as well as predictors of response to certain cancer therapies, such as tamoxifen or traditional chemotherapy. The tests measure the level of activated tyrosine phosphorylated (PY) Shc protein and p66 Shc protein in tissue specimens. The Shc proteins are involved in a number of well documented cellular pathways that are correlated with tumor aggressiveness across many types of cancer, offering a broad opportunity for clinical testing.
[1] MMWR Weekly Report : June 25, 2004 / 53(24); 526-529