Thursday, March 6, 2008

Exact's colon-cancer test gets nod from American Cancer Society

Exact Sciences Corp. reports that its stool-based DNA technology for colorectal-cancer screening received a major endorsement by being included in the American Cancer Society's new guidelines for diagnosing colon cancer.

Marlborough-based Exact (Nasdaq: EXAS) has viewed inclusion in the ACS guidelines as a major step in gaining wider adoption of its test.

To diagnose colon cancer, Exact's test detects mutations in the DNA of cells shed from the colon and found in human waste.

Sidney Winawer, a gastroenterologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, said in a company statement that the inclusion of stool-based DNA testing would encourage more people to be screened for colon cancer and would reduce deaths from colon cancer.

Colon cancer is the second-most deadly cancer in the United States.

With 22 employees, the company reported a 2007 net loss of $11.96 million on revenue of $1.8 million.