NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Genetic Technologies said today that its CLIA lab subsidiary Phenogen will be working with two cancer centers — Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and the University of Cambridge in the UK — to study how polygenic risk scores impact the therapy decisions made by women who are BRCA mutation carriers.
In the study, led by MSKCC chief of breast medicine Mark Robson, Genetic Technologies will provide SNP genotyping through the Phenogen lab on a "fee for service basis," while investigators from the two collaborating institutions track whether the test results impact women's "decisional conflict" regarding preventive breast-removal surgery.
The company will design a new assay for the study, but the fundamental technology employed will be similar to the firm's existing BrevaGenplus breast cancer test.
According to Genetic Technologies, the resulting data could inform the design of future pipeline products. If the first phase of the study is successful, other US institutions have also expressed an interest in participating.
Last year, the company described a similar project with the University of Melbourne aimed at exploring an extended use of the Brevagen test in women with family history of breast cancer.