"Despite increasing awareness of active surveillance as a viable alternative to immediate intervention in men with clinically low-risk prostate cancer, its adoption has been limited largely due to physician and patient concerns around the accuracy of disease risk assessment," said Marc Dall’Era, M.D., principal investigator of the study and vice chair of Urology at the University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The multi-center study included 211 patients from 10 sites across the United States. The review of patient charts showed a relative increase of 56% in use of active surveillance in patients who received their Oncotype DX GPS compared to patients from the same practices with similar risk factors who were not tested.
Additionally, the results showed an increase in physician recommendation of active surveillance that was consistent with a previous prospective clinical study published earlier this year.
Together, the two published clinical utility studies demonstrate that use of Oncotype DX changes both treatment recommendations and actual treatment received, resulting in greater recommendation and adoption of active surveillance.
"These data from actual patient charts add an important real-life perspective on the value of our test," said Phil Febbo, M.D., chief medical officer, Genomic Health.
"Combined with 14 studies including more than 2,000 patients and a recent favorable draft local coverage determination on Medicare coverage, we believe this publication further supports our efforts to secure reimbursement for the Oncotype DX prostate cancer test."
The Oncotype DX portfolio of breast, colon and prostate cancer tests applies advanced genomic science to reveal the unique biology of a tumor in order to optimize cancer treatment decisions.
The Oncotype DX prostate cancer test identifies which clinically low-risk patients are eligible for active surveillance, as well as those who may benefit from immediate treatment by predicting disease aggressiveness.
