Biocept Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOC) announced that its blood-based diagnostic, OncoCEE-BR, was used to determine hormonal status of metastatic breast cancer patients in a prospective study at Columbia University in New York.

Despite the advances in early detection and treatment, breast cancer is still one of the most lethal forms of cancer.

Up to 75% of breast tumors rely on estrogen receptor (ER) signaling to grow. Targeting this pathway with anti-estrogen therapy has been shown in trials to have a clear clinical benefit in the treatment of this subset of breast cancer patients. Understanding the hormone receptor (HR) is important as well, because it is comprised of the ER and the progesterone receptor (PR). The HR status at the time of diagnosis and occurrence of metastasis can help inform patient treatment and, ultimately, has the potential to influence patient outcome.

The study at Columbia used Biocept’s proprietary CTC isolation platform to prospectively define both ER and PR status using a simple blood sample in women with metastatic breast cancer. These blood samples were compared to the hormonal status results from their corresponding tumor biopsy tissue.

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The study reported a high concordance of results between testing of a patient’s CTCs and testing of primary and metastatic tissue — results from the study indicate Biocept’s blood-based diagnostic may be as effective in determining a patient’s HR status as traditional tissue biopsy.

Kevin Kalinsky, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and first author of the paper, said:

These findings could ultimately have significant implications in how we treat advanced stage breast cancer patients. Since it is not always feasible to obtain metastatic tissue from breast cancer patients, CTCs are an attractive alternative source of tumor material. CTCs provide real-time information about the HR status of a tumor that can be monitored more readily on an ongoing basis.

Biocept shares were up 86% at $2.70 in the second half of Monday’s trading session. Shares traded up as much as 103% or $2.95. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $13.50 and a 52-week trading range of $1.09 to $9.70.

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