ITUS and Serametrix Announce Results of a Blinded Prostate Cancer Study
SAN JOSE, Calif., March, 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ITUS Corporation (NASDAQ: ITUS) today announced that it has completed a prostate cancer study with Serametrix in which data from a previous collaboration between Serametrix and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) was re-evaluated using ITUS technology.
Previously, Serametrix analyzed a number of metastatic prostate cancer and normal healthy samples using the MSK proprietary assay and algorithm to measure an immune suppressive cell amongst a group of cells called Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC), which may be implicated in cancer progression. Following this, a blinded re-analysis of data was performed in a collaboration with ITUS using ITUS's proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) based liquid biopsy cancer detection technology, Cchek™. This study achieved 92% sensitivity and 92% specificity using 121 prostate cancer and 125 healthy donor samples. The ITUS AI was trained on 85 prostate cancer samples and 88 healthy donor samples. After training, ITUS was provided an additional 73 unlabeled (blinded) samples, and ITUS correctly identified 33 of 36 prostate cancer samples and 34 of 37 healthy donor samples. All blood samples were from males aged 49-89.
Dr. Amit Kumar, ITUS's Chairman and CEO, stated, "This is the first time Cchek™ has been used on samples provided by a third party in a blinded manner, and the results were exceptional. Additionally, this is the largest study of a single type of cancer that we have completed to date. The samples were collected at MSK from patients with biopsy verified, metastatic prostate cancer. These, together with samples from healthy donors, were analyzed by Serametrix to identify a unique sub-type of MDSCs using proprietary technology. A subset of the data was then sent to ITUS for training of our Neural Network, followed by analysis of the remaining samples in a blinded manner."
Dr. Karen Autio, Medical Oncologist and member of the Genitourinary Service and the Melanoma and Immunotherapy Service at MSK said, "The results that Serametrix and ITUS were able to obtain are compelling as it suggests real potential to distinguish tumor-bearing individuals from healthy donors. We also look forward to further studies that will evaluate the prospects for this technology in predicting which patients are most likely to benefit from immuno-oncology therapies, as well as shed light on why prostate cancer has historically been more challenging to treat with immunotherapy in contrast to tumors such as melanoma."
"After the results of our study, we were quite impressed with the performance of ITUS's technology when combined with the unique MDSC profiling assay and algorithm that we have licensed from MSK. We are pleased to be working with ITUS as we move the technology forward. Validating the discriminating ability of Cchek™ using patient samples with localized prostate cancer as compared to normal volunteers will be an important next step," stated Henry Hepburne-Scott, VP of Business Development at Serametrix.
While the initial focus will be on confirmatory testing, ITUS believes Cchek™ can eventually be used for multiple markets including confirmatory testing, recurrence testing, therapy monitoring, as well as screening. Existing confirmatory diagnostics for many cancers rely on traditional biopsies, which can be painful, expensive, and result in dangerous side effects. ITUS hopes its unique liquid biopsy approach will significantly improve upon current standards of care. Along with Serametrix, ITUS is evaluating whether Cchek may be utilized to distinguish between responders and non-responders to immune-therapies.
Serametrix Corporation
Serametrix provides solutions to the problem of monitoring immune response to immunotherapies in clinical trial cancer patients. In partnership with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and other leading institutes Serametrix has developed a suite of immunoassays that monitor anti-tumor immunity in patients enrolled into clinical trials for novel cancer therapies. Additional information is available at www.serametrix.com.
ITUS Corporation
ITUS, a cancer-focused biotechnology company, is harnessing the body's immune system in the fight against cancer. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Anixa Diagnostics Corporation, is developing the CchekTM platform, a series of non-invasive blood tests for the early detection of solid tumor based cancers, which is based on the body's immunological response to the presence of a malignancy. Its majority owned subsidiary, Certainty Therapeutics, Inc., is developing CAR-T based immuno-therapy drugs which genetically engineer a patient's own immune cells to fight cancer. ITUS also continually examines emerging technologies in complementary or related fields for further development and commercialization. Additional information is available at www.ITUScorp.com.
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SOURCE ITUS Corporation
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