Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland, 18 November 2021 - Proteomedix, the Swiss diagnostics company committed to advance prostate cancer care, today announced the publication of clinical data that reveal added prognostic value of a blood biomarker signature predicting biochemical recurrence and adverse pathology in prostate cancer patients.
Radical prostatectomy provides excellent cancer control of clinically localized prostate cancer. However, approximately 30% of surgically treated men will experience cancer progression within 10 years of surgery. Several clinical parameters and the combination thereof (e.g. the Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA) score) have been shown to be reliable predictors of treatment failure. Still, there is a compelling need to identify novel markers that are specifically linked to the presence of biologically aggressive prostate cancer for improved prediction of outcome in populations with moderately elevated PSA levels.
The published results highlight the clinical evaluation of a 5-protein biomarker signature combined with clinical parameters. The prognostic utility of the proposed marker combination was assessed in serum samples from 557 men with confirmed localized prostate cancer. The analysis showed that the proposed model had a better prediction for disease progression and thus prostate cancer aggressiveness compared to the clinical standard score (CAPRA).
Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Steuber from the renowned Martini-Klinik Hamburg and principal investigator of the study stated: “This novel biomarker test has the potential to improve prostate cancer patient management by indicating who needs active treatment.” “In contrast to the existing biomarker tests from competitors that all need tissue specimens, our test is non-invasive and can be directly measured in patients’ blood samples” said Ralph Schiess, CSO and co-founder of Proteomedix.
Publication reference: A. Athanasiou, P. Tennstedt, A. Wittig, R. Huber, O. Straub, R. Schiess, Thomas Steuber. A novel serum biomarker quintet reveals added prognostic value when combined with standard clinical parameters in prostate cancer patients by predicting biochemical recurrence and adverse pathology. Plos One 16, e0259093 (2021). https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259093
About prostate cancer prognosis
Prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer in men, with more than 1.3 million new cases and 350’000 deaths worldwide each year. The classification of prostate cancer in clinically significant and non-significant type is important to prevent overtreatment and its associated side-effects and costs. Proteomedix is developing accurate diagnostic tools for disease prognosis and monitoring that are essential for cost-effective disease management.
About Proteomedix
Proteomedix is a healthcare company whose mission is to transform prostate cancer diagnosis. The company has identified novel biomarker signatures with utility in prostate cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy management. The lead product Proclarix® is a blood based prostate cancer test panel and risk score currently available in Europe. Proteomedix is located in the Bio-Technopark of Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.proteomedix.com.
For further details, please contact:
Dr. Ralph Schiess, CSO
schiess@proteomedix.com, +41 44 733 40 90