MENLO PARK, Calif., September 27, 2019–GRAIL, Inc., a healthcare company focused on the early detection of cancer, today announced that new data supporting its technology to detect cancer at early stages with a single blood test will be presented as a late-breaking oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2019 Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
“Most cancers go undetected until too late, and cancer remains the second leading cause of death worldwide. To address this challenge, we embarked on one of the most ambitious clinical study programs in genomic medicine in support of a novel multi-cancer approach to early cancer detection,” said Anne-Renee Hartman, MD, Vice President of Clinical Development at GRAIL. “We are pleased to be presenting new data from our large-scale, rigorous clinical study program that demonstrate the ability of our test to detect more than 20 cancer types across all stages from a single blood draw, and identify where the cancer is located in the body, while minimizing the rate of false positives.”
The data are being presented by Geoffrey R. Oxnard, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The presentation slides will be available online at https://grail.com/science/publications/ at time of presentation.
GRAIL will also present additional new data from its ongoing studies evaluating its multi-cancer early detection test at ASCO Breakthrough taking place October 11-13, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.
ESMO Oral Presentation Details
Abstract LBA77
Geoffrey R. Oxnard, et al. Simultaneous multi-cancer detection and tissue of origin (TOO) localization using targeted bisulfite sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA)
Proffered Paper Session – Translational Research: September 28, 2019: 8:30-10:00 AM CEST, Pamplona Auditorium (Hall 2)
About GRAIL’s Investigational Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test
GRAIL is developing a next-generation sequencing (NGS) blood test for the early detection of multiple deadly cancer types. GRAIL’s high efficiency methylation technology preferentially targets the most informative regions of the genome and is designed to use its proprietary database and machine-learning algorithms to both detect the presence of cancer and identify the tumor’s tissue of origin. GRAIL’s sequencing database of cancer and non-cancer methylation signatures is believed to be the largest of its kind and covers approximately 30 million methylation sites across the genome. More than 20 cancer types across stages are represented within the database.
DNA methylation is a natural process used by cells to regulate gene expression. It is a chemical modification to DNA and a well-studied epigenomic feature of the genome. In cancer, abnormal methylation patterns and the resulting changes in gene expression can contribute to tumor growth. For example, hypermethylation can cause tumor-suppressor genes to be inactivated.
About GRAIL
GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on alleviating the global burden of cancer by developing pioneering technology to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types early. The company is using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop its multi-cancer early detection blood test. GRAIL is located in Menlo Park, California. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies. For more information, please visit www.grail.com.