CULVER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NantHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ-GS: NH), a next-generation, evidence-based, personalized healthcare company, today announced its support for a research study initiated by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) that will use NantHealth’s GPS Cancer™ panomic molecular analysis test to explore the molecular basis of patients with metastatic or recurrent breast cancer. The study will be led by co - principal investigators Hope S. Rugo, MD, and Denise M. Wolf, PhD, from UCSF.

This year, approximately 40,000 women will die from breast cancer in the United States1. Despite improvements in early detection, breast cancer remains a major cause of cancer-related mortalities. NantHealth and UCSF will collaborate to collect tissue specimens and clinical data from patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. The main goal of this project is to implement a comprehensive molecular profiling pilot study, directed towards women with metastatic breast cancer, that (1) creates a work flow to establish the feasibility of real time comprehensive profiling to support clinical decision making, (2) benefits participating patients by evaluating ‘actionable’ biomarkers and returning results, and (3) records whether the results were considered useful and impacted care.

“It is an exciting time for us as we embark on this partnership with Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and NantHealth to further investigate metastatic breast cancer,” said Dr. Hope S. Rugo, clinical professor of the Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) and director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at UCSF and principal investigator of this study. “We understand that every patient responds to treatment differently, making it imperative for us to develop effective, personalized treatment options to fight stage IV breast cancer. My team and I are looking forward to this study and are confident that we will have a better understanding of how molecular profiling plays into physicians’ treatment decisions.”

This study will allow UCSF researchers to utilize advancements made in molecular technology to examine the potential clinical feasibility of molecular profiling, including gene mutations, gene and protein expression in the context of patient care. The biopsy materials collected will also allow researchers to examine immune markers within the tumor architecture. Through this partnership, UCSF will increase its access to exceptional molecular profiling, combined with exploratory markers.

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