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Veracyte Announces Novel Gene Fusion Detection with the Afirma Xpression Atlas, Which May Inform Targeted Treatment Decisions for Thyroid Cancer Patients
Company launches expanded content to detect novel NTRK, ALK, RET and BRAF fusions at time of diagnosis SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
About this update from Veracyte, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nCompany launches expanded content to detect novel NTRK, ALK, RET and BRAF fusions at time of diagnosis\n\n SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nVeracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT) today announced results of a study that identified over 100 novel or rare NTRK, ALK, RET and BRAF fusions in fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples of patients undergoing evaluation for thyroid cancer. These gene fusions – 70 of which are previously unreported – may potentially be targeted with specific kinase inhibitor drugs that are currently available or in development for use in thyroid cancer patients. Veracyte also announced that it has launched an expanded version of its Afirma® Xpression Atlas (XA) test, which uses RNA sequencing to detect gene alterations – including these novel or rare fusions – at the time of diagnosis.\n\n\nThe new data are featured in an abstract that was accepted for an oral presentation this week at ENDO 2020*, the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society. The study was one of two Afirma XA-related abstracts accepted for the meeting.\n\n\nFor the new study, researchers performed RNA whole-transcriptome sequencing on over 37,000 thyroid nodule FNA samples whose cytopathology results were either indeterminate (Bethesda III/IV) or suspicious for cancer (Bethesda V/VI). They found 104 novel or rare gene fusions – 7 NTRK1/3, 8 ALK, 17 RET and 72 BRAF – none of which were previously reported for thyroid cancer in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program, a United States government catalogue of gene alterations associated with cancer. The authors subsequently examined over 50,000 FNA samples that had undergone testing with Veracyte’s Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) and found that none of the novel or rare gene fusions were detected among those deemed benign. NTRK, ALK, RET and BRAF fusions, including those in the new study, were identified in 3.2 percent of the 16,594 Bethesda III/IV samples that were deemed suspicious for cancer by the Afirma GSC and in 8.0 percent of the 1,692 Bethesda V/VI samples.\n\n\n“Identification of receptor tyrosine kinase fusions is important because they are potential targets for small molecule inhibitors that are now FDA-approved or in clinical trials to treat advanced thyroid cancers,” said Lori J. Wirth, M.D., medical director of the Center for Head and Neck Cancers at Massachusetts ...