Oxford BioDynamics has announced that its EpiSwitch® Prostate Screening (PSE) test will be utilized in correlative studies of a clinical trial organized and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health. The trial, NCT05588128, aims to monitor prostate cancer in patients with biochemically recurrent disease over a period of five years. The EpiSwitch® PSE test will be used to investigate early markers of prostate cancer progression.
Prostate cancer is a significant health concern, and the trial seeks to identify techniques, tools, and biomarkers that can predict outcomes in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. The trial will follow approximately 250 patients, monitoring changes on prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET imaging and collecting blood samples every three months. The EpiSwitch® PSE test will be evaluated as a tool to investigate early markers of prostate cancer progression.
Dr. Ravi Madan, M.D., the trial lead, expressed, "OBD's novel blood-based PSE test will be investigated while monitoring patients in our prospective five-year trial with PSMA-PET recurrent prostate cancer." The collaboration between OBD and NCI involves the evaluation of samples and data collected from the clinical trial using the EpiSwitch® PSE test under a material transfer agreement (MTA).
Thomas Guiel, COO of OBD, stated, "This natural history study will allow all parties to study the evolution of recurrent prostate cancer and validate new tools for managing patient care." The company is pleased with the recognition of the PSE test's utility by prestigious research organizations such as the NCI, with an eye to expanding the application of the test into cancer monitoring applications.
The EpiSwitch® Prostate Screening (PSE) test's involvement in the NCI trial highlights its potential in supporting the exploration of the complex dynamics of recurrent prostate cancer and investigating how best to monitor it using all available tools. For more information on the clinical trial, interested patients can contact NCI's toll-free number or visit the website provided in the announcement.
The collaboration between OBD and NCI in this clinical trial signifies an important step in the validation and potential expansion of the EpiSwitch® PSE test's application in cancer monitoring.