ART's Scientific Advisory Board Endorses Treatment Monitoring Application for SoftScan.MONTREAL -- ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. (ART) (TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension :ARA Ara or Arrah (both: ŭ`rə), city (1991 pop. 157,082), Bihar state, NE India, on the Son Canal. A major road and rail junction, it is the administrative center for a district that produces grain, sugarcane, and oilseed. ) - Company's breast optical imaging device has demonstrated ability to consistently quantify small variations in physiological parameters indicative of malignancy malignancy: see cancer. , making device well suited to monitor the efficacy of breast cancer treatment This article or section recently underwent a major revision or rewrite and needs further review. You can help! The mainstay of breast cancer treatment is surgery when the tumor is localized, with possible adjuvant hormonal therapy (with tamoxifen or an aromatase ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. (ART) (TSX:ARA), a Canadian medical device company and a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, is pleased to announce that its Scientific Advisory Board, after reviewing interim clinical data of SoftScan, has concluded that the Company's breast optical imaging device has demonstrated its ability to quantify small variations in physiological parameters that are indicative of malignancy as well as reproduce results with a high degree of consistency, making the device well suited to monitor the efficacy of specific treatments of cancerous breast lesions. Speaking on behalf of the Scientific Advisory Board, Chairman Dr. Martin Yaffe stated: "The Scientific Advisory Board is impressed with the progress that the development team at ART has made in achieving reproducible measurements of key optical properties of breast tissue. These have potential for use in the important area of monitoring the response of a breast tumour to chemotherapy given prior to breast surgery to shrink a tumour". Dr. Martin Yaffe is Senior Scientist in Imaging/Bioengineering Research at Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Current methods do not provide early insight on the effectiveness of treatment and therefore require longer time to make such determination. Medical practitioners and clinicians are requesting new tools to better monitor the effects of drugs and other cancer treatments, such as pre-operative neo-adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy. They also expect to know in a more timely manner whether the chosen approach, treatment or dosage is best suited to the patient's therapeutic response.Dr. Daniel B. Kopans, Chairman of ART's Clinical Advisory Board and a member of ART's Scientific Advisory Board, made the following comments after reviewing the SoftScan results: "Treating cancerous tumours before removing them from the breast is safe, and offers the opportunity to determine whether powerful chemotherapy drugs are actually destroying tumour cells.This 'neo-adjuvant' form of therapy offers the opportunity to change the therapeutic approach if the tumour is not responding so that the treatment can be tailored to the specific tumour. The use of optical imaging technology such as SoftScan is an opportunity to provide information on tumour response that will likely be evident more rapidly than with other techniques", concluded Dr. Kopans.Dr. Daniel B. Kopans is Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. and Director, Breast Imaging Division, at the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital Health care The major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, widely regarded as one of the best health care centers in the world . Studies have shown that optical imaging could potentially detect therapeutic efficacy much earlier than other modalities Modalities The factors and circumstances that cause a patient's symptoms to improve or worsen, including weather, time of day, effects of food, and similar factors. without exposing the patient to harmful radiation. Monitoring early therapeutic response will allow for more effective treatment, reduction in treatment time and patient suffering, in addition to generating important cost savings to patient care facilities and health care systems worldwide.In the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. alone, the total breast cancer therapeutics market is estimated at US$2.8 billion in revenue per year (2006 estimate), with an annual growth rate of 10%, thus offering significant new market opportunities for ART's SoftScan. About ART ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. is a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. ART has developed two products based on its innovative technology.The first is eXplore Optix(TM), a molecular imaging device designed for monitoring physiological changes in living systems at the preclinical study phases of new drugs.eXplore Optix(TM) is distributed by GE Healthcare GE Healthcare is a $18 billion (USD) unit of General Electric (GE). It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment headquartered outside the United States. and is used by industry and academic leaders worldwide to bring new and better treatments to patients faster.The second is SoftScan(R), a medical imaging device designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. ART is commercializing its products in a global strategic alliance with GE Healthcare, a world leader in mammography mammography, diagnostic procedure that uses low-dose X rays to detect abnormalities in the breasts. The early diagnosis of breast cancer made possible by the routine use of mammography for screening women increases a woman's treatment alternatives and improves her and imaging. ART's shares are listed on the TSX under the ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors ARA. This press release may contain forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. subject to risks and uncertainties that would cause actual events to differ materially from expectations. These risks and uncertainties are described in ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc.'s regulatory filings with Canadian Securities Commissions and with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States. ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. (TSX:ARA) |
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