This technology is a diagnostic tool for differentiating low-risk and high-risk prostate cancer using genetic biomarkers.
Current technologies for categorizing prostate cancer patients as low- or high-risk are not sufficiently accurate. The primary means of determining the appropriate treatment course for prostate cancer mostly relies on Gleason grading, a histopathological evaluation that lacks a precise biomarker. This leads to an increase in the number of overly aggressive treatments such as prostatectomies, which carry the risk of side effects such as impotence and incontinence. As such, there is a need for robust genetic biomarkers for classifying prostate cancer to enable clinicians to better manage treatment for individual prostate cancer patients.
This technology measures expression levels of specific genetic biomarkers to predict the aggressiveness of a patient’s prostate cancer, and can further subdivide patients based on the risk that their cancer will transition from indolent to lethal over time. By providing vital information that predicts whether indolent prostate cancer will progress to the lethal form, this technology may allow physicians to develop more effective treatment strategies and help patients with indolent prostate cancer avoid over-treatment and prostatectomies, which can lead to impotence and incontinence. It also has the potential to speed treatment and improve clinical outcomes in patients with lethal prostate cancer. As such, this technology offers an individualized, scalable approach that can be easily incorporated into the current clinical diagnostic setting.
The accuracy of this technology has been demonstrated by examining the genetic biomarkers of current prostate cancer patients, where the lethal form was predicted in 88.9% of patient samples.
Patent Pending (US 20170058354)
Patent Pending (US 20150309036)
IR 3000
Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez