Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

In a business move that has far reaching implications for mesothelioma research, the biotechnology company Castle Biosciences has acquired all current and future rights to a mesothelioma diagnostic technology created at Brigham and Women’s Hospital – one of the world’s leading cancer research facilities.  The company is most interested in the gene expression test created by scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital known as DecisionDx-Mesothelioma.

The test was just recently announced and, now that it has a commercial partner, may be ready for immediate international sales and utilization.  In return for giving up the rights to its proprietary intellectual property, the hospital will receive additional funding which it can then funnel back into cancer research.  Not only that, the test now has a commercial development and distribution partner, something that can increase its effective reach.

The test was designed to be simple, easily administered, and affordable so that patients all over the globe could easily benefit from it.  Dr. Ralph Bueno, Associate Chief of Thoracic Surgery, released a statement saying “we now have a molecular test that alone as well as in conjunction with other simple clinical parameters can help identify patients who are most likely to benefit from aggressive surgery as well as assist with fundamental treatment planning.”

This new test is important because it is a two-fold test.  Reportedly, it can not only accurately determine the presence of mesothelioma cancer but can also help doctors predict the outcomes of specific types of treatments.  This prognostic element incorporated into this test can save invaluable time – a commodity that many mesothelioma patients don’t have much of.

Because of the disease’s nature, many mesothelioma patients often have only months to live after diagnosis.  Wasting time experimenting with various forms of ineffectual treatment can squander those few precious months.

DecisionDx-Mesothelioma test has been independently verified and, when compared with other tests, earned top marks according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s diagnosis guidelines.

The mesothelioma test searched for specific compounds within a sample (most often tissue sample but newer tests utilize blood or even breath samples) that are only present in patients suffering from this type of asbestos related cancer. 

Castle Biosciences plans to have the test available commercially to doctors around the country by the end of this year, though it must first undergo in-house testing and verification, which is expected to easily pass the approval process.