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- Genetic Technologies (GTG) launches a new cancer risk assessment test designed to evaluate a woman’s risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer
- The “world-first” test combines GTG’s GeneType platform with other clinical risk factors to provide a risk assessment result from a single saliva sample
- GTG CEO Simon Morriss says the test means the company is moving beyond rare cancer-susceptibility genetics to address cancer risk at a population health level
- The company will first launch the new test in the US and showcase it at the BRCA 2023 Symposium in Montreal in early May
- Shares in Genetic Technologies are up 167 per cent to 0.8 cents at 1:27 pm AEDT
Shares in genomics specialist Genetic Technologies (GTG) have nearly tripled following the announcement of the launch of a new “world-first” cancer risk assessment test.
The test is designed to evaluate a woman’s risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer from either hereditary genetic mutations or from more common familial or sporadic cancers.
The test combines GTG’s GeneType platform with other clinical risk factors to provide a risk assessment result from a single saliva sample.
GTG CEO Simon Morriss said this new risk test was one of the company’s “most important” contributions to the advancement of population-based genetic testing.
“We are moving beyond rare cancer-susceptibility genetics,” Mr Morriss said.
“We can look for the needle in the haystack, but we are also able to look at the haystack itself. Our non-invasive risk assessment test will address cancer risk at a population health level.”
According to Genetic Technologies, many women are not properly screened and diagnosed for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) due to limited clinical criteria.
The company said in a recent study of over 6000 women, of the 38 HBOC carriers, half would not have qualified for testing based on traditional clinical criteria, meaning their higher risk of cancer would not have been identified.
The new GTG test integrates the detection of the 13 major “actionable” breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes into the GeneType test platform, resulting in a higher classification rate of women at elevated risk compared to traditional clinical tools.
The test will target women over 30 years of age in the general population who are at a higher risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer — not just those with rare genetic mutations.
GTG said the risk assessment test would be clinically validated and have appropriate regulatory approval.
The company will first launch the new test in the US, and it will be showcased at the BRCA 2023 Symposium in Montreal in early May.
Shares in Genetic Technologies were up a whopping 167 per cent to 0.8 cents at 1:27 pm AEDT.
