Clinical Validation Data Published in CHEST Demonstrate that Veracyte’s Percepta Nasal Swab Test Improves Lung Cancer Risk Assessment for Patients with Lung Nodules

Veracyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCYT) announced that clinical validation data published in the journal CHEST show that the company’s Percepta Nasal Swab test determines lung cancer risk, with high accuracy, among people who currently smoke or have previously smoked and have lung nodules. The findings suggest that the novel, non-invasive genomic test can help physicians guide next steps for these patients, enabling them to potentially avoid unnecessary invasive procedures or accelerate time to appropriate treatment.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Lung nodules are an early indicator of lung cancer and are typically found using computed tomography (CT) scans. In the United States, approximately 15 million people are eligible for annual lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans based on their smoking history and other factors and currently an estimated 1.6 million lung nodules are found incidentally each year in patients being evaluated with a CT scan for an unrelated condition. While most lung nodules are not cancerous, their detection can result in unnecessary diagnostic procedures and anxiety for patients. At the same time, early detection of cancerous nodules can lead to better patient outcomes.

“Physicians need an objective, accurate tool to help guide care for patients when a lung nodule is found on a CT scan,” said Bill Bulman, M.D., Veracyte’s medical director for Pulmonology and an author on the CHEST manuscript. “Our findings reinforce the ability of the Percepta Nasal Swab test to improve risk assessment of lung nodules and help avoid unnecessary diagnostic procedures for those at low risk of cancer while supporting timely diagnosis and treatment for those with high risk of cancer.”

Veracyte’s Percepta Nasal Swab test is a simple, non-invasive genomic test that can be done in the physician’s office and is designed to assess lung cancer risk in patients who currently smoke or have previously smoked and have lung nodules found on CT scans. The test reports whether a patient has a high-, moderate- or low-risk for lung cancer, providing insights to help physicians objectively determine which patients with lung nodules to work up for lung cancer and which patients to simply monitor with imaging.