AviaraDx Confirms That Combination of Two Molecular Biomarkers Improves Prediction of Disease Recurrence in Early Stage Breast Cance...( -Specific biomarkers for molecular t...),Health

-Specific biomarkers for molecular tumor grade and endocrine benefit offer

better prediction of individual patient outcome-

SAN DIEGO, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- AviaraDx, Inc. today announced the publication of an article describing the discovery, development and validation of a new molecular biomarker, Aviara MGI(SM) (Molecular Grade Index), that improves the accuracy of breast cancer tumor grading for the prediction of distant disease recurrence. The authors also report that combining Aviara MGI with Aviara H/I(SM) (HOXB13:IL17BR), a biomarker previously shown to predict endocrine benefit, provides superior stratification of recurrence risk. The article, "A Five-Gene Molecular Grade Index and HOXB13:IL17BR Are Complementary Prognostic Factors in Early Stage Breast Cancer," appeared in the May 1, 2008 edition of Clinical Cancer Research.

The Aviara MGI and Aviara H/I ("H over I") biomarkers measure specific, independent and clinically relevant aspects of tumor biology. According to the paper published this month, the combination of these markers provides superior risk stratification as it relates to endocrine benefit and treatment outcome. After development and testing, the combination was clinically validated through retrospective analyses of 239 ER-positive, lymph-node negative patients treated at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, and an independent cohort of 84 patients from John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (UK).

Aviara MGI is a new molecular assay comprising only five genes that are activated at different cell cycle stages and are involved in invasive tumor growth. This assay assists pathologists and oncologists by improving the accuracy of tumor grading.

To predict tumor aggressiveness and a potential response to chemotherapy, pathologists traditionally evaluate a breast cancer biopsy by light microscopy and assign a tumor grade. Patients with more aggressive, high grade (Grade 3) tumors have been shown to
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