DxTerity Collaborates with City of Hope Medical Center on the Development of a Cancer Genomic Blood Test to Predict Response to Radiation Therapy

DxTerity announced today that it is collaborating with the City of Hope Medical Center on the clinical development of a blood test that could possibly predict whether cancer patients about to undergo radiation therapy are likely to benefit from the treatment, as well as identify those who are at risk for radiation toxicity. This research program is being funded in part by the National Cancer Institute.

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy plays an important role in the fight against cancer with more than 60 percent of all patients receiving some form of radiation treatment.  Despite its excellent overall safety profile, approximately 10 percent of patients experience radiation toxicity, while some patients may not benefit from the treatment. To address this clinical need, DxTerity is developing a genomic blood test to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from radiation treatment thereby allowing oncologists to minimize radiation exposure for unresponsive and sensitive patients, or use adjunctive therapies, such as immunotherapy, to improve radiotherapy response.

"Not knowing who will respond to radiation therapy or if they will experience radiation toxicity are on-going barriers to personalizing cancer treatment." says Professor Yi-Jen Chen, MD, the Principal Investigator of the trial from Radiation Oncology, City of Hope Medical Center. "We are excited to partner with DxTerity in advancing cancer research to address this problem."

DxTerity's radiotherapy response study (RADIANT) is initially focused on patients receiving radiation treatment to their abdominal-pelvic region. In addition to work with City of Hope Medical Center, DxTerity is also enrolling nationally online at www.radiantstudy.com for qualified patients with the following cancers: prostate, colorectal, anal, esophageal, cervical, ovarian, uterine, gall bladder, kidney, stomach, pancreatic and testicular cancer.  Interested patients can participate from the convenience of their home by self-collecting a fingerstick blood sample using DxTerity's DxCollect® From-Home mailer kit prior to beginning radiotherapy treatment.  By minimizing the burden of participating in this study, DxTerity hopes to cost-effectively increase the number of patients who are able to participate while advancing the treatment of cancer patients.