- IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence Improves Cancer Treatment
“Improving diagnostic consistency and certainty is crucial in providing faster, higher-quality and more accurate diagnoses to cancer patients,” Thomas Schinecker, CEO, Roche Diagnostics, said in the announcement.
“Our uPath PD-L1 (SP263) image analysis for non-small cell lung cancer is the first next-generation CE-IVD PD-L1 algorithm to the clinical market. It expands on our growing digital pathology suite for VENTANA assays that aid physicians in providing the most accurate treatment decisions for patients with the most common type of lung cancer.”
The uPath PD-L1 (SP263) image analysis (NSCLC) algorithm for digital pathology is ready-to-use and integrated within the Roche uPath enterprise software, a universal digital platform for case management, collaboration and reporting, Roche explained.
Patients with tumors that are positive for the PD-L1 biomarker may be eligible for targeted treatment.
Back in January 2019, Roche launched the uPath enterprise software for digital pathology, which drastically improves on the previous version, known as VENTANA Virtuoso.
uPath software enhances the user experience by drastically decreasing image rendering times, integrating automated image analysis, and improving efficiency by enabling an improved workflow for sharing cases between pathologists, the press release said.
Additionally, the software offers pathologists, histotechnicians and administrators a universal platform to manage all aspects of the pathology workflow through diagnosis.
Roche noted that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death globally. Each year, 1.76 million people die as a result of the disease, translating into more than 4,800 deaths worldwide every day.
Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for between 80 percent and 85 percent of all lung cancers and is therefore a “lucrative yet competitive space” for pharmaceutical companies, Reuters recently reported in The New York Times.
Keytruda from Merck & Co Inc currently dominates the space, but a flurry of new FDA approvals is bringing new market entrants. In addition to the approval of Tecentriq, the FDA also approved Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's Opdivo and Yervoy combination for use in previously untreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer, Reuters stated.
At the end of May, FDA approved Roche’s first-line treatment, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), for adult patients with metastatic NSCLC.
Atezolizumab is the fourth indication in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and fifth indication in lung cancer overall in the US.
The approval was based on results from Roche’s clinical trial, IMpower110. This was a multicenter, international, open-label trial for patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors express PD-L1 and who had received no prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease.
Along with atezolizumab, FDA approved VENTANA PD-L1 Assay as a companion diagnostic device for specifically choosing patients with NSCLC for treatment with atezolizumab.
“We are pleased to offer people with certain types of lung cancer a new chemotherapy-free option that can help prolong their lives and be administered on a flexible dosing schedule, including an option for once-a-month Tecentriq infusions,” Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Roche said in the announcement.
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