This article has been updated to clarfiy that although OICR is providing funding for the PRECISE trial, it is not funding 3D Signatures' participation in the initaive. 

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – 3D Signatures announced today that its blood-based genome biomarker tests will be used in a clinical study of prostate cancer biopsy methods being run by the Canadian Urology Research Consortium (CURC).

3D Signatures said that it expects to spend approximately C$2.4M (US$1.8 million) over a two-year period to support its participation in the PRECISE trial and development of related tests.

The PRECISE trial — short for PRostate Evaluation for Clinically Important disease MRI versus Standard Evaluation procedures — is enrolling roughly 450 biopsy-naive individuals suspected of having prostate cancer. It aims to compare the cancer detection rates and monitoring efficacy of transrectal ultrasonography-guided biopsy and non-invasive MRI-targeted biopsy.

The trial is being funded by the the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and the Movember Foundation Canada, but those organizations are not funding 3D's participation.

According to 3D Signatures, the trial will now incorporate its blood-based tests, which use fluorescent markers and high-resolution microscopy to analyze telomeres, into the original biopsy-focused investigation as a correlative biomarker. The company said it hopes to establish a baseline of genomic instability for prostate cancer patients, as well as provide follow-up monitoring information and data for developing blood-based clinical tests for personalized disease assessment and treatment.

"The PRECISE trial aims to determine whether MRI, a non-invasive imaging test, can replace invasive prostate biopsies in men with an elevated PSA," CURC's Laurence Klotz, the principal investigator of the study, said in a statement. "We have an opportunity to test a new blood-based biomarker to accurately stratify patients into risk groups. If successful, this could represent a first-in-class blood test which would specifically identify clinically significant prostate cancer."