Monogram Presents Results of First ETag Breast Cancer Studies

Monogram Biosciences, Inc. announced that two presentations detailing initial studies on the clinical utility of its proprietary eTag technology in metastatic breast cancer

Monogram Biosciences, Inc. announced that two presentations detailing initial studies on the clinical utility of its proprietary eTag technology in metastatic breast cancer will be presented at the 43rd American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting (June 1-5) in Chicago, Illinois. A third presentation will describe the molecular characterization of cell lines that have acquired resistance to the breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab).

Currently under development, the eTag technology is a highly advanced diagnostic platform for quantifying protein expression, protein-protein interactions (e.g. receptor dimerization) and protein modification (e.g. phosphorylation). This unique capability enables the eTag technology to accurately assess signaling pathways that control cell growth, proliferation and survival. Dysregulation of these pathways has been associated with a wide variety of tumors, including breast, lung, prostate and colorectal cancers.

Many new therapeutic candidates target various steps in these critical cell signaling pathways, potentially providing an opportunity for the diagnostic capabilities of the eTag technology to improve patient treatment and drug development.

The presentations at the ASCO meeting describe the Company's progress in addressing two critical questions related to the treatment of HER2(+) breast cancer patients. First, why don't all HER2(+) breast cancers respond equally well to targeted therapy with Herceptin. And second, why do many HER2(+) breast cancers develop resistance to Herceptin treatment. The presentations are:

· 'Differential survival following trastuzumab treatment based on quantitative HER2 expression and HER2-HER2 dimerization in a clinic-based cohort of patients with metastatic breast cancer.'

·'HER2 expression and HER2-HER2 dimerization identifies subpopulations of metastatic breast cancer patients with different probabilities of long-term survival following trastuzumab treatment and with different requirements for concomitant chemotherapy'

· Patterns of HER-family receptor dimerization in trastuzumab susceptible and trastuzumab resistant cell lines

'The eTag platform represents a powerful new tool for advancing personalized medicine in cancer treatment,'said Monogram CEO Bill Young. 'By providing quantitative measurements to characterize disease at the molecular level and by detecting the protein complexes to help accurately predict an individual patient's response to specific therapies, eTag technology may empower oncologists with the critical information needed to improve patients' lives and may help drive the development of more effective targeted cancer therapies.'

Source: PRNewswire
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