NorthShore University HealthSystem's (NorthShore) Center for Personalized Medicine and Ambry Genetics Corporation (Ambry), announced today the launch of AmbryScore for prostate cancer risk.
AmbryScore is the first commercially available polygenic risk score designed to estimate a man's individualized risk for prostate cancer. The test provides a prostate cancer risk assessment calculation based on the combined effects of 72-prostate cancer-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Knowing an individual's prostate cancer risk allows for earlier intervention through screening, preventative, and diagnostic measures aimed at early detection, which has been shown to improve patient outcomes.
The American Cancer Society estimates in 2018 there will be nearly 165,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed and 30,000 deaths from the disease, indicating the need for better tools to aid in early intervention.
The test is ordered through an individual's healthcare provider, where a sample is collected with the option to select the test as an add-on to select hereditary cancer panels. Due to the population-specific nature of SNPs, a patient must be of Northern European ancestry to be eligible for the test.
Originally developed by NorthShore researcher Jianfeng Xu, DrPH, the test is designed to provide physicians, including urologists, with a quantitative tool to better recognize the risk of prostate cancer. The test was validated in research conducted by William Isaacs, Ph.D., professor of urology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and will be published at the American Society Human Genetics Annual Meeting this October.
"Implementing the test into our practice helps us understand and identify risk, which ultimately will help our patients as well as their families who may be at risk," said Brian Helfand, MD, PhD, a urologist with NorthShore's Center for Personalized Medicine, one of the most comprehensive personalized medicine programs in the country spanning genetic testing, counseling, and clinical prevention and treatment planning. "The test is truly life-changing for patients and their family members, who now have an opportunity to take control of their health by choosing to screen for select gene mutations and variations well before traditional diagnostic testing could offer actionable results," added Helfand.
NorthShore and Ambry announced in September 2017 that they would collaborate to focus on bringing to market genetic tests aimed at saving lives and improving patients' health. Previously, they also jointly announced the release of AmbryScore for breast cancer in 2018. AmbryScore for breast cancer combines clinical and family history information with 100 breast-cancer associated SNPs to provide a remaining lifetime breast cancer risk estimate to health care providers for eligible women who pursue multigene panel tests.
"We are excited about our continued collaboration with NorthShore," stated Brigette Tippin Davis Ph.D., FACMG, Sr. Vice President, Ambry Genetics. "Through clinical partnerships like this, we can bring innovative tests to patients and better understand disease outcomes related to genetics. After launching AmbryScore for breast cancer in March of 2018, we are especially pleased to now offer this test for prostate cancer."
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