GenomeDx Biosciences, a genomic information company that develops and commercializes clinical tests using great amounts of genomic data, has announced the results of two separate studies that confirm the potential and power of its Decipher Genomic Resource Information Database (Decipher GRID) to improve disease management and predict patient outcomes. The results were presented by Dr Ashley Ross, M.D. and associate professor of urology and oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, during the 16^th Annual Meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology.

In the first study, scientists studied the role of immunomodulatory marker B7H3, using the Decipher GRID database, to predict prostate cancer outcomes and the relationship with androgen receptor activity. The profiles of 905 patients, from Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic, were studied with researchers observing that higher B7H3 expression levels had a positive correlation with more advanced cancer stages, higher Gleason Scores and higher prostate cancer-specific mortality. The second study focused on the Decipher and CAPRA (Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment Postsurgical)-S score correlation with metastasis events and treatment response. Researchers identified 422 patients who had undergone prostatectomy and adverse features following surgery, across four institutions.

The team observed that high Decipher and CAPRA-S scores were associated with benefits from adjuvant radiation therapy, while patients presenting low Decipher and CAPRA-S scores had a low rate of metastatic events, whatever the treatment selected. Furthermore, researchers determined that Decipher and CAPRA-S scores have independent prediction values for metastatic outcomes.

Doug Dolginow, M.D., chief executive officer of GenomeDx commented in a press release, “Decipher GRID is a powerful database of genomic information on urological cancer, made possible by data sharing of tumor samples from leading medical centers across the country. Information gleaned from GRID is improving our understanding of prostate cancer, further validating Decipher and guiding the development of new genomic tests for predicting outcomes at various stages of urological disease.”