OncoCyte announces publication of long-term follow up data for DetermaRx

Oncocyte Corporation announced the publication of two abstracts in the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine, one detailing new data on DetermaRx, and the other highlighting the IRENE clinical study being used for the development of DetermaDx. Both abstracts were accepted as oral presentations at the American Thoracic Society 2020 International Conference, which has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first abstract, entitled "Everybody Must Get Scanned? Molecular Risk Stratification May Limit the Need for CT Surveillance Following Surgical Resection of Early-Stage Non-Squamous, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer," was accepted as part of a mini symposium session, "Advancing Risk Assessment for Pulmonary Nodules" and highlights long term follow-up data from a 195-patient study of DetermaRx. One in three patients identified as high risk through testing with DetermaRx experienced a recurrence of their cancer, and 70% of these patients experienced a recurrence within two years of surgery. Further, 96% of patients identified as low risk through DetermaRx testing did not recur but continued to undergo frequent scans, which are associated with patient stress and can be an inefficient use of healthcare resources. The data also showed that limiting the follow up of those low risk patients to annual surveillance scans would have reduced overall scan frequency by 50%, while having little impact on detection of cancer recurrence. The second abstract, entitled "Diagnostic Evaluation of Pulmonary Nodules in the Irene Cohort: A Comparison of Practice Settings," included in the Abstract Poster Discussion Session, "Novel Insights in Lung Cancer Diagnosis, Staging, and Prognosis," discusses practice patterns from the IRENE Biobank, which includes 2,903 patient samples from 62 sites across the United states, with comprehensive clinical data and patient follow up. The data highlight the unprecedented scale of the biobank, which can be used for development of blood-based diagnostics to aid in the management of radiologically-identified lung nodules. Significant differences in the management of pulmonary nodules between settings were identified, including differences in the rate of invasive procedures resulting in a benign diagnosis across the academic, community and Veterans Affairs settings. These findings bring attention to the clinical decision challenge that DetermaDx, which is designed to help more judiciously manage the use of invasive biopsy procedures for diagnosis of lung nodules, has the potential to address.