To gain a clearer picture when screening people for the early signs of lung cancer, Philips is looking to bolster its CT scanning approach with blood-based tests developed by Biodesix.
Philips will integrate the results of Biodesix’s Nodify Lung assays, protein-based tests that help assess the risk a suspicious nodule may harbor cancer cells, within its Lung Cancer Orchestrator system for patient management.
The digital program organizes information from CT images, biopsy findings and patient histories to help clinicians make treatment decisions, schedule appointments and perform screenings at scale. The addition of protein data from a blood test aims to offer more confidence in the diagnostic process.
“By incorporating Biodesix’s Nodify Lung testing, we take another step in leveraging integrated diagnostics from imaging, genomics, and now proteomic results from a simple blood draw to address key moments in the lung cancer patient journey, support care team decision-making, and help health systems learn from their practice patterns,” Louis Culot, Philips’ general manager of oncology informatics and genomics, said in a statement.
Those key moments include using Biodesix’s test to gauge the chances that a node may turn malignant, to better assign resources to the patients that need them the most. Philips estimates that about 62% of lung tissue biopsies are performed on nodules that turn out to be benign, while delays in surgery for cancerous ones have been linked with increases in mortality.
Alongside programs for collating radiology, pathology and tumor staging results, healthcare providers will be able to order and receive Biodesix’s tests directly within the Lung Cancer Orchestrator, as Philips looks to build out an end-to-end screening and diagnostic workflow system.
Biodesix’s approach includes two tests, Nodify XL2 and Nodify CDT, performed on a single blood draw. The XL2 test aims to reduce unnecessary biopsies by identifying patients with a lower risk of malignancy, and who may benefit more from extended surveillance with CT scans.
The CDT test—which was granted Medicare coverage earlier this month, joining the rest of Biodesix’s lung cancer portfolio—is designed to catch nodes with higher risks of malignancy, by measuring the presence of antibodies linked to tumor antigens.
This month also saw Biodesix sign a partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the testmaker Bio-Rad, to develop a test for monitoring minimal residual disease leftover from solid tumors following treatment.