LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
Progress in Prostate Cancer Screening Generous philanthropy led to the creation of an innovative prostate cancer test. by KARIN OLAFSON
Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in Alberta, affecting one in eight men. Prostate cancer screening and treatments have seen great advancements, with fiveyear survival rates as high as 99 per cent when cancer is detected early. Prostate cancer screening begins with a PSA test, which accurately confirms when patients have the disease, but doesn’t always accurately identify those who don’t. This can lead to unnecessary biopsies, which involve removing a small sample of prostate tissue, meaning they are invasive and come with risks. Alberta researchers are continually looking at innovative ways to improve early detection of prostate cancer. ClarityDX Prostate is just one example of this — and its creation is only possible because of the significant generosity of donors. Catalina Vasquez is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Nanostics, the Edmonton-based company behind ClarityDX Prostate. She explains that
ClarityDX Prostate’s innovative testing is changing how prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated.
Nanostics uses artificial intelligence to predict whether a patient has a disease. ClarityDX Prostate is its first ground-breaking test, and it is changing how prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated. The simple blood test uses biomarkers, clinical data and a machine learning algorithm to create a risk score for disease, which is personalized for each patient. It is up t o 47 per cent more accurate than a PSA test, which can require follow-up biopsies to get more data. “Globally, up to 80 per cent of men have their biopsy results come back negative. ClarityDX Prostate has the potential to reduce up to 50 per cent of unnecessary biopsies,” says Vasquez. “Providing a more accurate risk assessment of disease can help patients make more informed decisions about whether to biopsy.”
Chief scientific officer Desmond Pink in the Nanostics Clinical Lab.
Vasquez adds that the company has been around for almost a decade. “We have seen tremendous support from the Alberta Cancer Foundation and philanthropists from day one.” She explains this groundbreaking test is possible because of the late philanthropist Frank Sojonky, who developed metastatic prostate cancer in 1992. He wanted to help develop a new screening test, so other men wouldn’t be diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer as he had. Ten years later, he moved from Vancouver to Edmonton, where he saw that his philanthropic efforts could make a big difference for men with prostate cancer by supporting lab-based research. To raise funds and make the creation of this new test a reality, Sojonky created a fundraising group called the Bird Dogs, which raised millions for the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Some of the funds were used to recruit Dr. John Lewis, a prostate cancer researcher, as the Bird Dogs Chair in Translational Oncology in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta and the CEO of Nanostics. Because of donor generosity, ClarityDX Prostate is changing outcomes for men across Alberta — and beyond. “This is getting us closer to Sojonky’s vision: ensuring men across Canada have access to tests that can help diagnose prostate cancer early, but also prevent biopsies for men who don’t need them,” says Vasquez.
PHOTOGRAPHS (TOP) EDMONTON GLOBAL21, BOTH COURTESY OF NANOSTICS
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