On June 3, 2024 Guardant Health, Inc. (Nasdaq: GH), a leading precision oncology company, reported its research collaborators from Washington University’s Siteman Cancer Center will lead an oral presentation today at the 2024 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting highlighting the potential role of liquid biopsy in addressing racial inequities in enrollment in clinical trials and in the use of targeted therapies for advanced breast cancer (Press release, Guardant Health, JUN 3, 2024, View Source [SID1234644057]).

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The Rapid Oral Abstract Session (#1017), titled "Racial differences in genomic profiles and targeted treatment use in ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer," will be held between 11:30 am and 1:00 pm CT in Hall D1.

The retrospective study, led by first author Emily Podany, MD, and senior author Andrew Davis, MD, both from Washington University, focused on patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+), HER2 negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer with PIK3CA mutations, which had an equal incidence in Black and White patients. The 1,327 patients in the study, who were treated at Washington University in St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Northwestern University, had the Guardant360 liquid biopsy test as part of clinical care and these results were combined with annotated clinical data. Results indicated that Black patients were significantly less likely than White patients to receive PIK3CA targeted therapy or to be enrolled in a clinical trial for biomarkers that required targetable mutations identified via circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). There were no differences in the use of therapies that did not require a targetable mutation identified via ctDNA.

"These data show clinical inequities in the use of targeted therapies and enrollment in clinical trials, which must be the focus of future interventions," said Podany. "We must now identify ways to ensure all patients equitably receive the recommended precision medicine treatments based on the results of ctDNA testing."

"These data highlight the importance of using ctDNA to identify targetable mutations," noted Davis. "And they reinforce the urgent need to ensure equitable implementation of precision medicine therapies for patients of all races."

The study is part of an ongoing collaboration between Guardant Health and the multicenter Precision Medicine Academic Consortium (PMAC) aimed at advancing the use of liquid biopsy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

"This landmark study highlights the importance of equitable access to precision medicine," said Craig Eagle, MD, chief medical officer of Guardant Health. "The results confirm the potential role liquid biopsy can have in helping researchers and clinicians equitably match patients with appropriate trials and clinically effective therapies."

Currently, PMAC is working with Guardant Health to validate genomic findings from this and prior projects using the GuardantINFORM clinical-genomic dataset of over 400,000 patients with advanced cancer. The collaboration will continue to pursue future research focused on increasing equitable utilization of targeted therapies.

"The current study demonstrates the importance of studying real-world annotated molecular data related to the use of ctDNA testing and targeted therapies in advanced cancer," said Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, co-founder of PMAC. "It provides valuable insights that can help us understand the complex relation among biological, ethnic and social diversity and offers potential tools to overcome inequity in care."

The full abstract for the study and a list of all abstracts being presented at the meeting can be found at the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) website.

For more information and updates from the meeting, follow Guardant Health on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) or visit ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) booth #28115.