Study published in European Urology Open Science confirms that Stockholm3 provides increased precision in prostate cancer diagnosis
February 28, 2022
A new clinical validation study in the Värmland Region has been published in European Urology Open Science (1). The results of the study show that Stockholm3 leads to better prostate cancer diagnostics with a reduced number of examinations and lower resource consumption than current Swedish guidelines and can pave the way for future general screening of prostate cancer.
”The recently published study from Region Värmland further strengthens the clinical evidence for Stockholm3 and shows major improvements in prostate cancer diagnosis. Stockholm3 finds more aggressive tumors and enables a significant reduction in magnetic camera examinations and unnecessary biopsies. This has now been validated in clinical studies involving a total of over 75,000 men and reduces human suffering as well as costs and allocation of critical health care resources,” says David Rosén CEO at A3P Biomedical.
In brief the study shows the following results:
Compared with current Swedish guidelines, Stockholm3 finds the same number of aggressive tumors, with a reduced number of magnetic camera examinations (-88 percent), reduced overdiagnosis (-18 percent) and fewer unnecessary biopsies (-15 percent).
Compared with magnetic camera examinations, Stockholm3 finds more aggressive tumors (+7 percent), with a reduced number of supplementary magnetic camera examinations (-88 percent), reduced overdiagnosis (-23 percent) and fewer unnecessary biopsies (-39 percent).
Recruitment for the study was carried out in the Värmland Region between 2019 and 2020. Invitations were sent to 8,764 men, of whom 2,511 participated in the study and submitted a PSA test. Men with PSA ≥ 3 (N = 272) also performed a Stockholm3 test and magnetic camera examination. The study evaluated four different diagnostic strategies: i) National guidelines in Sweden until 2019, ii) National guidelines in Sweden from 2020, iii) Magnetic camera, and iv) Stockholm3.
The researchers behind the publication summarize the results by concluding that current guidelines have good susceptibility to aggressive prostate cancer, but with a high degree of overdiagnosis and unnecessary biopsies. Further, that Stockholm3 can significantly improve the precision of diagnostics and in the long run pave the way for general screening of prostate cancer.
To read the Region Värmland’s press release on the study, please refer to this link (in Swedish):
Studie i Värmland banar väg för bättre tidig diagnostik av prostatacancer – Region Värmland (regionvarmland.se).
(1) A Head-to-head Comparison of Prostate Cancer Diagnostic Strategies Using the Stockholm3 Test, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and Swedish National Guidelines: Results from a Prospective Population-based Screening Study; Walden et al, European Urology Open Science 2022
About A3P Biomedical
A3P Biomedical is a company that specializes in advanced prostate cancer diagnostics. A3P’s main product, Stockholm3, is a clinically and commercially validated blood test for early detection and risk stratification of aggressive prostate cancer. A3P Biomedical is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information, please visit www.a3p.com
About Stockholm3
Stockholm3 is a blood-based test, that runs a combination of protein biomarkers, genetic biomarkers and clinical information through an algorithm to find the probability of clinically significant cancer at biopsy.
Stockholm3 has been evaluated in clinical studies including more than 90,000 men. It is extensively tested in large population-based screening trials, as well as in real world clinical utility studies in primary care, as a reflex test to PSA at values 1.5-20 ng/ml. Benefits include the ability to reduce unnecessary MRIs, benign and Grade Group 1 prostate biopsies for men with elevated PSA, while simultaneously improving detection of clinically significant cancers in men with low or normal PSA values. Using Stockholm3 leads to a more accurate risk assessment than the current PSA standard. Stockholm3 detects 40-90% more men with aggressive prostate cancer and, at the same time, reduces over-detection by 40-50% compared to PSA.
Multiple Stockholm3 studies have been published in high-impact journals such as The Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and European Urology. The studies address both the specificity and sensitivity of Stockholm3 in multi-ethnic populations as well as health-economic benefits of implementing it in clinical care. For more information about our clinical studies please visit www.a3p.com.
About prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In 2020, the global incidence of new prostate cancer cases was 1.4 million, and prostate cancer specific mortality 370,000. Global prostate cancer incidence and mortality is expected to rise by 100% and 85% respectively by 2040, driven by an ageing population.
Press contact:
Cecilia Edström
cecilia.edstrom@a3p.com
+46 72 226 2328