IMBdx said Wednesday that it would present data demonstrating the diagnostic accuracy of its liquid biopsy product AlphaLiquid at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU) this month.

In collaboration with AstraZeneca, IMBdx studied 933 Asian patients with metastatic prostate cancer from 11 countries, including Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, from 2021 to 2024.

Its research team analyzed variants in 15 HRR genes with the AlphaLiquid NGS panel and identified HRR gene variants in 31.5 percent of the patients. Mutations were most commonly found in the BRCA1/2, CDK12, ATM, and CHEK2 genes, similar to internationally validated biopsy-based studies.

Patients with metastatic prostate cancer who harbor HRR gene mutations may be candidates for PARP inhibitor therapy, making accurate mutation detection key to treatment strategies. However, due to the anatomy of the prostate, it isn't easy to obtain enough cancerous tissue, which limits the existing tissue-based tests, according to the company.

“This study demonstrates that AlphaLiquid's liquid biopsy has the ability to detect HRR gene mutations at the same level as tissue testing,” IMBdx Chief Medical Officer Cha Yong-jun said. “This is significant because it opens a new frontier in non-invasive diagnostics for patients with metastatic prostate cancer.”