Chemosensitivity/Resistance Assay Included As Part Of The NCCN Principles Of Chemotherapy

Main Category: Ovarian Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 27 Feb 2010 - 2:00 PDT

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Precision Therapeutics announced that The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently updated the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™) for Ovarian Cancer Including Fallopian Tube Cancer and Primary Peritoneal Cancer to include the use of chemosensitivity/resistance assays as part of the Principles of Chemotherapy section. While the NCCN Guidelines™ state that this technology is not intended to supplant standard of care chemotherapy, chemosensitivity/resistance assays are being used in some NCCN Member Institutions for decisions related to future chemotherapy in situations where there are multiple equivalent chemotherapy options available. This is a NCCN category 3 recommendation.

Recent studies presented at ASCO and published in the International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, evaluated the association between prediction of response to chemotherapy and progression-free interval and overall survival in ovarian cancer.

"We offer our gratitude to NCCN on behalf of the many ovarian cancer patients who could be faced with the potential side effects of ineffective chemotherapies. Not only are oncologists recognizing the benefits of using chemosensitivity and resistance assays when faced with equivalent therapeutic options, but they are also paving the way for greater support of personalized medicine in oncology," says Karen Kaplan, CEO of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancer in the United States and the country's fifth most common cause of cancer mortality in women. In the year 2009, there were more than 21,000 new diagnoses and nearly 15,000 deaths from this neoplasm in the United States.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ are developed and updated through an evidence-based process with explicit review of the scientific evidence integrated with expert judgment by multidisciplinary panels of physicians from NCCN Member Institutions.

About the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance is the foremost advocate for women with ovarian cancer in the United States. To advance the interests of women with ovarian cancer, the organization advocates at a national level for increases in research funding for the development of an early detection test, improved health care practices, and life-saving treatment protocols. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance educates health care professionals and raises public awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.

About Precision Therapeutics

Precision Therapeutics, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a life science company and leader in the development of innovative technology that delivers personalized diagnostics to physicians with the goal of supporting and optimizing difficult treatment decisions in cancer therapy.

Precision's ChemoFx®, a proprietary drug response marker, measures an individual patient's tumor response to various chemotherapeutic and biological agents prior to treating the patient. ChemoFx® can complement the physician's experience and provide valuable patient-specific information, particularly when there is non-uniform response to standard cancer treatment or no clear choice for the next regimen.

Source: Precision Therapeutics

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