Cancer Genetics, Inc., provider of DNA-based cancer diagnostics, has launched an updated MatBA-CLL/SLL test which provides greater clarity of risk and outcome for patients. CGI’s proprietary test for mature B-cell neoplasms now reports information on twenty genomic sites, affording clinical interpretation and improved stratification and prognostication of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) patients. This genomic test stratifies CLL and SLL patients into three distinct risk categories: favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable. According to company representatives, by more accurately stratifying patients, the updated MatBA-CLL/SLL will enable doctors to better personalize patient management and improve patient outcome.
The new regions assessed by CGI’s MatBA-CLL/SLL test were validated in a study published recently in Leukemia & Lymphoma. Noting the importance of its results and CGI’s updated test for patient management and treatment, Jane Houldsworth, PhD, CGI Vice President of Research and Development, explains, “Without assessing these additional biomarkers, 7.9% of patients who had a poor prognosis were improperly categorized as having a favorable outcome. By adding these additional poor prognostic markers, the updated MatBA-CLL/SLL can better identify those patients with high-risk disease who would otherwise have been categorized as having a good/intermediate prognosis. The test now offers a clearer distinction between patients with an overall good prognosis and those with an intermediate survival.”
Significant strides have recently been made in the treatment of hematological cancers. In July 2014, the FDA approved Gilead’s Zydelig for relapsed CLL, SLL, and follicular lymphoma (FL); in February 2013, Pharmacyclics’ Ibrutinib was approved for use in patients with CLL. Biopharmas are increasingly interested in finding new treatment options for these diseases, and the need for better and more comprehensive molecular diagnostic tests continues to expand in order to meet the needs of personalization and cost-reduction in patient management. Learn more about the MatBA-CLL/SLL test.
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