Our Business

Areas of Focus - Cardiovascular & Oncology

Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular disease is the single largest killer in the United States. With nearly one million deaths caused by cardiovascular disease each year, stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) account for more than seventy percent of these fatalities.

The PLAC® Test for Lp-PLA2
The PLAC test addresses a significant unmet clinical need by identifying individuals at high risk for CHD and stroke who may be missed by traditional risk assessment. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability, with approximately 500,000 fatal heart attacks and 700,000 strokes per year in the United States alone. Approximately 50% of all coronary events strike people with low to moderate cholesterol levels, and predictive models used in cardiovascular disease, such as the Framingham Risk Score and the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III), have determined all patient risk estimates and treatment recommendations entirely on coronary heart disease outcomes and do not include stroke, primarily due to the association between increased cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease event rates. Where as cholesterol levels have not been shown to be a predictor for stroke events.

For more information on the PLAC test for Lp-PLA2, please visit our Products and Technology page on this website, or go to www.plactest.com.

Oncology
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that more than 500,000 people die of cancer annually, making it the second leading cause of death in the United States. The ACS reports that if most cancers were diagnosed before they metastasize, five-year survival rates could exceed 90 percent. The importance of early detection reveals a clear need for novel diagnostic cancer tests.

Oncology Diagnostics
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. diaDexus is developing simple blood tests to detect early stage cancer in otherwise healthy individuals. Early detection of cancer has been demonstrated to significantly improve five-year survival rates. However, most cancers are detected too late, when the cancer has already spread, reducing effective surgical and therapeutic options. The main focus of the diaDexus oncology diagnostics program is to develop markers that are elevated in early stage disease when cancer is most likely to be curable. Currently, diaDexus has developed six proprietary serum cancer biomarkers that are being evaluated in three cancer program – ovarian, colorectal and breast.

For more information on diaDexus’ Oncology Diagnostics Program, please visit our Products and Technology page on this website.

Oncology Prognostics
The goal of the diaDexus oncology prognostic program is to improve the management and treatment decision of patients diagnosed with breast or colorectal cancer. By individualized profiling of tumor tissue, a better understanding of the disease outcome can be determined. For example, half of all breast cancer diagnoses are classified as low risk based on traditional prognostic factors. However, after treatment, up to 15 percent of these patients will experience a recurrence within 10 years. As a result, there is a clinical need for tests to identify patients at higher risk for recurrence who would benefit from chemotherapy. Alternatively, such a test could help avoid unnecessary treatment in patients predicted to have good outcomes.

For more information on diaDexus’ Oncology Diagnostics Program, please visit our Products and Technology page on this website.