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Astellas to Use GenomeDx Prostate Cancer Classifier, Database in Drug Study

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – GenomeDx Biosciences has inked a research collaboration with Astellas to investigate use of its Decipher Classifier and Genomics Resource Information Database (GRID) to assess prostate cancer tumor aggressiveness and treatment response.

In a statement today, GenomeDx said that Astellas will provide it with tumor samples from patients enrolled in the Phase II ENACT trial, which is evaluating the time it takes prostate cancer patients to progress when they are on Xtandi (enzalutamide) versus active surveillance. GenomeDx will analyze the samples using the Decipher Classifier to gauge tumor aggressiveness. 

GenomeDX CEO Doug Dolginow elaborated in a statement that the company will also compare genomic tumor profiles from patients in the ENACT study against "thousands of tumor profiles" in GRID to try and identify genomic signatures that predict treatment response. The company claims that GRID is the largest shared genomic expression database in urologic cancer employing cloud-based analytics.

"The genomic data provided by GenomeDx will help us to better understand the molecular drivers of prostate cancer and how those drivers interact with response to enzalutamide," Bruce Brown, Astellas' senior medical director, said in a statement. 

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