Clarient, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLRT), a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced the commercial launch of a new lung cancer test, Clarient Insight® Dx Pulmotype® Test, that helps physicians classify specific types of lung cancer to identify which therapies may be most effective. The new test has been clinically validated to use in the sub-classification of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for approximately 85 percent of the more than 200,000 lung cancer cases diagnosed each year.
"Pulmotype provides pathologists with a valuable new tool to help their oncologist clients understand which patients are eligible for a number of new therapies now available for the treatment of NSCLC," said Chief Executive Officer Ron Andrews. "Its ability to accurately sub-classify lung cancer will enable physicians to make much more informed and effective therapy decisions. We have built a very strong breast cancer franchise and established Clarient as the 'go-to' laboratory for complex breast cancer testing. Pulmotype allows us to offer a similar compelling reason for pathologists and oncologists faced with critical decisions in lung cancer to send the primary tumor samples to Clarient. Having the lung cancer sample in our hands at the beginning of the diagnostic process allows us to assist the pathologist and the oncologist throughout the patient care process by delivering information on additional molecular markers, such as EGFR mutation and KRAS."
The Pulmotype test consists of a panel of biomarkers that allows physicians to classify NSCLC into adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma subtypes, which are key distinctions in choosing the most effective therapy. Newly developed targeted therapies can be very effective but can also be very toxic depending on the patient and his or her disease characteristics.