Clarient Insight Dx Pulmotax assay helps predict response to chemotherapy in lung cancer patients

Apr 21 2010

Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLRT), a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced that data from a new study suggest that the Clarient Insight® Dx Pulmotax™ assay may effectively predict which lung cancer patients will respond favorably to chemotherapy. The study, titled "TLE3 expression is predictive of response to chemotherapy in NSCLC," included 368 samples from carcinoma patients.  The majority of advanced-stage patients who were treated with chemotherapy received a treatment regimen containing a taxane class agent.

Pulmotax is a single antibody immunohistochemistry test created to detect the expression of TLE3 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Prior data have linked TLE3 expression specifically to response to taxane therapy in breast and ovarian carcinoma patients. The study was presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, D.C. by Douglas T. Ross, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Clarient. 

The study summary and results may be found at http://www.clarientinc.com/Pulmotax.

Alex Soltermann, M.D., the study's principal investigator and a pathologist at the Institute of Surgical Pathology at the University Hospital Zurich, noted that for advanced NSCLC, taxane therapy is often selected as part of standard therapy; however, the inclusion of taxane carries with it an increased incidence of severe side effects which can seriously complicate patient management.  Dr. Soltermann said, "In this study we saw a striking relationship between TLE3 expression in advanced lung cancer patients and response to chemotherapy in a patient population where most patients received a taxane agent as part of their treatment regimen. These results suggest that treatments may be targeted to those patients most likely to benefit from taxane therapy."

Ron Andrews, Clarient Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "This marks the third tissue type where our proprietary TLE3 marker shows solid association to taxane therapy response. The consistent relationship between this diagnostic biomarker and tumor response in breast, ovarian and now lung carcinoma is encouraging as it represents the potential to bring to market a product that can positively impact patient care in many different solid tumor types. On the heels of our successful launch of the Clarient Insight® Dx Pulmotype® test and our emerging leadership position in EGFR receptor mutation testing, Pulmotax brings a new weapon in our arsenal of tests that will help pathologists, pulmonologists, and oncologists select appropriate therapy for lung cancer patients."

Clarient currently expects to commercially launch its product line for taxane sensitivity in the fourth quarter of 2010.