SALT LAKE CITY, March 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN) today noted that the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) has issued new clinical practice statements surrounding hereditary cancer testing for patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer. The statements are consistent with the recently revised National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines and support broader access to genetic testing for patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer.
"Historically, hereditary cancer testing has been underutilized in gynecologic cancers. The new practice recommendations underscore the importance of testing as a clinical management tool," said Sharyn N. Lewin, M.D., assistant clinical professor of gynecologic oncology at Columbia University Medical Center. "Every woman with ovarian or endometrial cancer should be tested by their healthcare provider in order to guide therapy and potentially save the lives of unaffected family members."
Some of the key aspects of the statements include:
- A recommendation that women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian, tubal and peritoneal cancers should be considered for genetic counseling and testing even in the absence of family history;
- A recommendation that all women diagnosed with endometrial cancer should undergo systematic clinical screening (review of personal and family history) and/or molecular screening for hereditary colon cancer risk; and
- An acknowledgement of the advantages of cancer gene panels including decreased cost, improved efficiency, and the fact that a negative genetic test is more reassuring because it eliminates concerns about an inherited risk for all known genes.
Hereditary cancer testing for gynecologic cancers has been underutilized compared to breast cancer despite the fact that ovarian and endometrial cancer patients are at higher risk for hereditary cancer. Myriad estimates that less than 25 percent of women with ovarian cancer and fewer than 5 percent of women with endometrial cancer receive hereditary cancer testing.
"Myriad is working with gynecologic oncologists and other healthcare providers to ensure broad access to these tests for women with gynecologic cancers," said Mark Capone, president of Myriad Genetic Laboratories. "We believe the detection of hereditary cancer through cancer gene panels like Myriad myRisk™ Hereditary Cancer is important in guiding surgical decisions and informing families. Hereditary cancer testing also plays an increasingly prominent role in therapy selection as new, targeted therapies are developed for patients with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations."
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics is a leading molecular diagnostic company dedicated to making a difference in patients' lives through the discovery and commercialization of transformative tests to assess a person's risk of developing disease, guide treatment decisions and assess risk of disease progression and recurrence. Myriad's molecular diagnostic tests are based on an understanding of the role genes play in human disease and were developed with a commitment to improving an individual's decision-making process for monitoring and treating disease. Myriad is focused on strategic directives to introduce new products, including companion diagnostics, as well as expanding internationally. For more information on how Myriad is making a difference, please visit the Company's website: www.myriad.com.
Myriad, the Myriad logo and Prolaris, Myriad myPath, Myriad myPlan and Myriad myRisk are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-F, MYGN-G.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the Company working with gynecologic oncologists and other healthcare providers to ensure broad access to these tests for women with gynecologic cancers; the importance of the detection of hereditary cancer through cancer gene panels like Myriad myRisk™ Hereditary Cancer in guiding surgical decisions and informing families; hereditary cancer testing playing an increasingly prominent role in therapy selection as new, targeted therapies are developed for patients with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations; and the Company's strategic directives under the caption "About Myriad Genetics." These "forward-looking statements" are management's present expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our existing molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services may decline or will not continue to increase at historical rates; risks related to changes in the governmental or private insurers reimbursement levels for our tests; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that we may not successfully develop new markets for our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services, including our ability to successfully generate revenue outside the United States; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services tests and any future tests are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with operating our laboratory testing facilities; risks related to public concern over our genetic testing in general or our tests in particular; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of the healthcare system or healthcare payment systems; risks related to our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations or licenses and acquire new technologies or businesses on satisfactory terms, if at all; risks related to our ability to successfully integrate and derive benefits from any technologies or businesses that we license or acquire; risks related to increased competition and the development of new competing tests and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect or that third parties will infringe the proprietary technologies underlying our tests; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges to the validity of our patents; risks related to changes in intellectual property laws covering our molecular diagnostic tests and companion diagnostic services and patents or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries, such as the Supreme Court decision in the lawsuit brought against us by the Association for Molecular Pathology et al; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.