Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer worldwide, causing approximately 1.8 million deaths each year. Veracyte’s comprehensive portfolio of lung cancer genomic tests is designed to improve outcomes for patients at each step of their journey, with an ultimate goal of saving more lives.

Lung nodules are typically the first sign of lung cancer and cannot be ignored – however, most of them are benign. Today, physicians have limited objective tools to help accurately determine which patients with lung nodules found on computed tomography (CT) scans have cancer and which do not. This uncertainty can lead to unnecessary diagnostic procedures or to potentially delayed diagnosis and treatment.

The Percepta Nasal Swab test is a simple, noninvasive tool that is designed to help physicians identify with high accuracy which patients with lung nodules detected on CT are low risk (97% sensitivity) for cancer so they may avoid unnecessary invasive procedures and which are high risk for cancer (92% specificity) so they may proceed to further diagnostic work-up and appropriate treatment, if needed. Patients deemed moderate risk may proceed according to clinical guidelines. These findings, from a clinical validation study on prospectively collected nasal swab samples showed that the genomic test delivered robust performance across different lung nodule sizes and cancer stages.

The Percepta Nasal Swab test was built upon foundational "field of injury" science - through which genomic changes associated with lung cancer can be found in the airways of current and former smokers. Veracyte began making the test available to a limited number of medical centers in October 2021.

Patients with lung nodules found on CT scans often undergo bronchoscopy – a common, nonsurgical procedure to evaluate potentially cancerous lung nodules. However, many of these procedures produce inconclusive results that lead to uncertainty in next steps for the patient and delays in diagnosis.

The Percepta Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) stratifies the risk of primary lung cancer to guide patient management when bronchoscopy results are inconclusive. The classifier helps patients avoid unnecessary procedures when risk is “down-classified” or informs next intervention steps when risk is “up-classified.” The Percepta GSC uses the same “field of injury” principle as the nasal swab test and is performed on samples collected from the main lung airway. In other words, the test can help determine whether a hard-to-reach lung nodule is cancerous or not without the need to sample the nodule directly.

The Percepta Genomic Atlas is a next generation sequencing (NGS) test intended to help physicians make informed treatment decisions for patients diagnosed with lung cancer. Data presented at the 2021 American Thoracic Society (ATS) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meetings suggest that the test accurately detects known lung cancer gene variants using the same small biopsy samples that are used for diagnosis. This ability can simplify the physician’s workflow and accelerate time to appropriate treatment. The Percepta Genomic Atlas is scheduled to launch in 2022 as part of our comprehensive lung cancer portfolio, helping to guide care across the patient journey.