SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MYGN) announced today that results from a preliminary study indicate that BRCA germline mutations occur at a high frequency in women with triple negative breast cancer, sufficiently high enough to justify screening of all women with TNBC. Details of the study were presented on October 3, 2010, at the 2010 ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium in Washington DC. The presentation is entitled: "Incidence and outcome of BRCA mutation carriers with triple negative breast cancer", and the abstract (#160) is available on the ASCO website at .
"This study confirms the emerging story of the importance of BRACAnalysis® testing in triple negative breast cancer," said Mark Capone, President of Myriad Genetic Laboratories. "The high prevalence of BRCA mutations in women that do not currently qualify for BRACAnalysis testing, if confirmed in additional studies, could be considered for future updates to testing guidelines."
TNBC is characterized by the absence of tumor expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 and is particularly aggressive and difficult to treat. BRACAnalysis® is currently recommended in women diagnosed with TNBC that are under the age of 45, or have family history of disease or other risk factors. In the study presented at ASCO, 77 TNBC patients from the MD Anderson Cancer Center that did not meet the standard testing criteria were evaluated with BRACAnalysis testing. Approximately 18% of patients were found to have deleterious germline mutations in either BRCA1 or BRCA2. Forty-three percent (43%) of the mutation carriers were patients that would not have qualified for BRACAnalysis testing under existing guidelines.
About Triple Negative Breast Cancer
In the United States, approximately 35,000 women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer annually. BRCA1 mutations are more commonly associated with TNBC than with other subtypes of breast cancer.
About BRACAnalysis®
BRACAnalysis is an analysis of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes developed by Myriad Genetics for assessing a woman's risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. A woman who tests positive with the BRACAnalysis test has, on average, an 82% risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime and a 44% risk of developing ovarian cancer. BRACAnalysis provides important information that the Company believes will help patients and their physicians make better informed lifestyle, surveillance, preventive medication and treatment decisions. As published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers have shown that pre-symptomatic individuals who have a high risk of developing breast cancer can reduce their risk by approximately 50% with appropriate preventive therapies. Additionally, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers have shown that pre-symptomatic individuals who carry gene mutations can lower their risk of developing ovarian cancer by approximately 60% with appropriate preventive therapies.
For more information about BRACAnalysis, please call 1-800-4-MYRIAD, or visit .
About Myriad Genetics
Myriad Genetics, Inc. is a leading molecular diagnostic company focused on developing and marketing novel predictive medicine, personalized medicine and prognostic medicine products. Myriad's news and other information are available on the Company's Web site at .
Myriad, the Myriad logo, BRACAnalysis, Colaris, Colaris AP, Melaris, TheraGuide, Prezeon, OnDose, and Prolaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Genetics, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries. MYGN-G
The Myriad Genetics, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6336
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the emerging importance of BRACAnalysis® testing in triple negative breast cancer. These "forward-looking statements" are based on management's current 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 set forth in or implied by forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that sales and profit margins of our existing molecular diagnostic products may decline or will not continue to increase at historical rates; the risk that we may be unable to develop or achieve commercial success for additional molecular diagnostic products in a timely manner, or at all; the risk that licenses to the technology underlying our molecular diagnostic products and any future products are terminated or cannot be maintained on satisfactory terms; risks related to delays or other problems with manufacturing our products or operating our laboratory testing facilities; risks related to public concern over our products; risks related to regulatory requirements or enforcement in the United States and foreign countries and changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems; uncertainties about our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations and acquire new technologies on satisfactory terms, if at all; the development of competing products and services; the risk that we or our licensors may be unable to protect the proprietary technologies underlying our products; the risk of patent-infringement claims or challenges of our patents; 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 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2010, 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.
CONTACT: Myriad Genetics, Inc. Suzanne Barton, Director, Investor Relations (801) 584-1138 sbarton@myriad.com