Lucid to support study of this expanded
indication for esophageal precancer testing in partnership with NIH
investigators
NEW
YORK, Feb. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucid
Diagnostics Inc. (Nasdaq: LUCD) ("Lucid" or the
"Company"), a commercial-stage, cancer prevention medical
diagnostics company, and subsidiary of PAVmed Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM),
today announced that a consortium of prestigious academic medical
centers, led by principal investigators from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and
University Hospitals (UH), has been awarded an $8 million National Institutes of Health (NIH)
R01 grant to conduct a five-year clinical study designed to
evaluate esophageal precancer detection using Lucid's
EsoCheck® Esophageal Cell Collection Device and
EsoGuard® Esophageal DNA Test among at-risk
individuals without symptoms of chronic gastroesophageal
reflux disease (GERD).
The study, "A Clinical Trial of Cancer Prevention by
Biomarker Based Detections of Barrett's Esophagus and Its
Progression," aims to evaluate the effectiveness of EsoCheck
and EsoGuard in detecting esophageal precancer (Barrett's Esophagus
or BE) to prevent esophageal cancer (EAC) within a non-GERD at-risk
population. To accomplish this aim, 800 patients without GERD
symptoms who meet the American Gastroenterological Association's
(AGA) risk criteria for screening will be recruited across
five participating research centers: University Hospitals,
University of Colorado, Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina, and Cleveland
Clinic.
"Patients without GERD symptoms account for nearly half of
prevalent esophageal cancer cases," said Amitabh Chak,
M.D., Professor of Medicine and Oncology at CWRU,
gastroenterologist at UH, and the Brenda and Marshall B. Brown
Master Clinician in Innovation and Discovery at UH Seidman
Cancer Center. "However, these individuals would be excluded from
screening based on the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG)
guidelines where chronic GERD is a mandatory prerequisite. We aim
to utilize EsoCheck and EsoGuard to improve BE detection in this
at-risk population that would otherwise go unscreened, and to do so
in a manner that does not over-tax limited endoscopy resources.
Given the dismal 20% five-year survival associated with esophageal
cancer, increased detection and treatment of BE is the best
strategy to meaningfully impact esophageal cancer-related
mortality."
"We are excited to support this landmark study, continuing our
longstanding collaboration with Drs. Amitabh Chak, Sanford Markowitz, and Joseph Willis, principal investigators on the
NIH grant, and are gratified that the NIH has committed substantial
resources focused on our technology," said Lishan Aklog, M.D., Lucid's Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. "This study has the potential to significantly
expand the target population for EsoGuard esophageal precancer
testing."
The technology behind EsoGuard and EsoCheck was developed at
CWRU and UH by faculty members Sanford
Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Amitabh Chak, M.D., Joseph Willis, M.D., and Helen Moinova, Ph.D.
They have collaborated closely with the Lucid team since Lucid
licensed the technologies on an exclusive basis from CWRU in
2018.
About Lucid Diagnostics
Lucid Diagnostics Inc. is a
commercial-stage, cancer prevention medical diagnostics company and
subsidiary of PAVmed Inc. (Nasdaq: PAVM). Lucid is focused on the
millions of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),
also known as chronic heartburn, who are at risk of developing
esophageal precancer and cancer. Lucid's EsoGuard®
Esophageal DNA Test, performed on samples collected in a brief,
noninvasive office procedure with its EsoCheck®
Esophageal Cell Collection Device, represent the first and only
commercially available tools designed with the goal of preventing
cancer and cancer deaths through widespread, early detection of
esophageal precancer in at-risk patients.
For more information about Lucid, please visit www.luciddx.com
and for more information about its parent company PAVmed, please
visit www.pavmed.com.
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SOURCE Lucid Diagnostics
