Improved Survival of Ovarian Cancer Patients Receiving Treatment Guided by Comprehensive Tumour Profiling

BASEL, Switzerland, September 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Data from an ovarian cancer registry presented at the European Society for Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) annual meeting reinforce comprehensive tumour profiling as a 'game changer' for oncologists.

The preliminary report from the Caris Registry™ demonstrated significantly longer post-profiling survival in patients with ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who were given treatments that their tumour profile showed were likely to benefit them compared with patients who were treated with drugs that profiling suggested would be less effective. Data^[1] revealed that patients whose treatment was guided by tumour profiling had a 46% lower risk of death (Hazard Ratio = 0.54, p= 0.0018).

The comprehensive tumour profiling service used in the study measures a broad range of cancer "biomarkers" (proteins, genes or other molecules that affect how cancer cells grow, multiply and respond to therapies) and interprets the results to identify treatments most likely to be of benefit and help eliminate those that are less likely to benefit the patient. The results allow oncologists to better determine appropriate treatments for each patient, based on the individual makeup of their cancer rather than the site of the tumour.

Data from earlier studies show that comprehensive tumour profiling consistently identifies biomarkers linked to specific treatments in over 90% of patients^[2], and that clinicians change their intended treatment decision based on profiling results in over 80% of cases^[3].  Across a range of cancer types, tumour profiling-guided treatment has been shown to benefit patients^[4] and improve outcomes when compared to unguided treatment^[5].  The ESGO data demonstrate that for many ovarian cancer patients who have run out of options, comprehensive tumour profiling consistently offers oncologists actionable insights to help choose a patient's next treatment and can improve patient outcomes.

Professor Hani Gabra, author of the ESGO publication and Director, Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre at Imperial College, said, "The data presented at ESGO this year further support the use of comprehensive tumour profiling. It offers new options to patients whose cancers are difficult to treat or rare, or who have exhausted standard treatment options. I'm extremely excited to see this breadth of research on a global platform and am hopeful that profiling will be rapidly adopted in clinical practice in Europe."

Gilda Witte, Chief Executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, states, "In order to improve the outlook for women with ovarian cancer, we need to know much more about types of tumours, and tumour profiling is becoming paramount in this area. We are hugely impressed that Caris is investing in research to provide information on ovarian tumours and we hope that this potentially leads to a breakthrough in treatment which may subsequently impact survivorship."

Andreas Voss, Vice President, Medical and Clinical Affairs, Caris Life Sciences said, "Comprehensive tumour profiling is a hot topic this year. It is becoming increasingly clear that the best approach to tumour profiling is to use a variety of methods to test for mutations, gene expression levels, and protein biomarkers. These combined analyses provide a comprehensive report and actionable treatment options for oncologists. Caris Molecular Intelligence^TM remains the world's most advanced commercial tumour profiling service - we are proud to be working with leading oncologists worldwide to bring the benefits of tumour profiling to cancer patients."

Caris Molecular Intelligence is not yet formally reimbursed across Europe but it is available to purchase in all European markets. Individual insurance companies, clinics and organisations in some countries have agreed to reimburse the service on application. Caris Life Sciences is dedicated to working to ensure the service is reimbursed across Europe.  

About Caris Life Sciences and Caris Molecular Intelligence™ 

Caris Life Sciences is a leading biosciences company focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine. Caris Molecular Intelligence™, the industry's first and largest tumour profiling service, provides oncologists with the most potentially clinically actionable treatment options available to personalise care today. Using a variety of advanced and clinically validated technologies, which assess relevant biological changes in each patient's tumour, Caris Molecular Intelligence correlates biomarker data generated from a tumour with biomarker/drug associations derived from the cancer clinical literature. The company is also developing a series of blood tests based on its proprietary Carisome® TOP™ platform, a revolutionary blood-based testing technology for diagnosis, prognosis, and theranosis of cancer and other complex diseases. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout Europe, the U.S., Australia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit http://www.carislifesciences.eu.

1. Poster by Oliver KE et al., Tumour molecular profile-directed treatment is associated with improved survival in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. ESGO 2014.

2. Astsaturov IA et al., Profiling of 1,250 neuroendocrine tumors identifies multiple potential drug targets, J Clin Oncol 32, 2014 (Suppl 3; Abstr 214)

3. Epelbaum R et al., Molecular Profiling (MP)-Selected Therapy for the Treatment of Patients with Advanced Pancreaticobiliary Cancer (PBC), 2013 ASCO GI Symposium. Jan 2013. (Abstract Number 195).

4. Von Hoff D et al., Pilot Study Using Molecular Profiling of Patients' Tumors to Find Potential Targets and Select Treatments for Their Refractory Cancers, J Clin Oncol. Nov 20;28(33)2010:4877-83

5. Tsimberidou AM et al., Personalized Medicine in a Phase I Clinical Trials Program: The MD Anderson Cancer Center Initiative. Clin Cancer Res 18:6373-6383