Veracyte Announces New Expanded Data at CHEST Underscoring Percepta Nasal Swab Test’s Ability to Improve Early Lung Cancer Assessment

Veracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT) today announced that new expanded clinical validation data reinforce the ability of the company’s noninvasive Percepta Nasal Swab test to help physicians more accurately assess lung cancer risk in patients with lung nodules. The findings also show that the test delivers strong clinical performance across different nodule sizes and cancer stages in current or former smokers, and for patients who have already had other cancer(s).

The new data underscore the Percepta Nasal Swab test’s ability to help physicians more accurately, quickly and confidently determine which patients with lung nodules found on computerized tomography (CT) scans may avoid unnecessary invasive procedures and which should proceed to diagnostic work-ups and obtain treatment if necessary. The findings will be shared in an oral presentation at the 2021 American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Annual Meeting, which is being held virtually October 17-20, 2021. Veracyte also announced it has begun making the Percepta Nasal Swab test available to a limited number of clinical sites as it builds the clinical utility data to support reimbursement.

“Approximately 15 million patients are now recommended for annual lung cancer CT screening and about 1.6 million lung nodules are found incidentally,” said Carla R. Lamb, M.D., interventional pulmonologist at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., who will present the new data. “Today, physicians have limited objective tools to help accurately determine which patients with lung nodules found on CT scans have cancer and which don’t. This uncertainty can lead to unnecessary diagnostic procedures or to potentially delayed diagnosis and treatment. Our findings reinforce the Percepta Nasal Swab test’s ability to more accurately identify patients as low, moderate or high risk for lung cancer so that physicians can make more confident decisions about next steps for their patients.”

The Percepta Nasal Swab test’s robust performance in classifying lung cancer risk was previously demonstrated in a blinded, independent validation set of 249 patients from multiple cohorts comprising prospectively collected nasal samples. All patients were current or former smokers undergoing evaluation for lung nodules found on CT scans. Patients were followed for up to one year or until physicians made a final, adjudicated diagnosis. The new expanded data being presented at this year’s CHEST meeting include 63 additional patients with prior (non-lung) cancers who were part of a planned secondary endpoint analysis.