GeneNews publishes positive ColonSentry™ validation data in leading International Cancer Journal

TORONTO, CANADA (October 1, 2009):

GeneNews Limited (TSX: GEN), a company focused on developing blood-based biomarker tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management, today announced that the paper entitled, "A Blood-based Biomarker Panel for Stratifying Current Risk for Colorectal Cancer," was published in the International Journal of Cancer. The results validate a novel blood-based, seven-gene biomarker set for colorectal cancer that can stratify average risk patients according to their current relative risk of actually having colorectal cancer. These seven biomarkers form the basis of the Company's lead product ColonSentry™, the world's first blood test for colorectal cancer, which was commercially launched in Canada in the second half of 2008. Commercial expansion into the US, Europe and Asia is expected in 2010.

"Clinical practice guidelines for colorectal cancer population screening were recently updated in the United States and it was concluded that ideally, screening should be supported in a programmatic fashion that begins with risk stratification based on an initial test and continues through proper follow-up based on findings," said Dr. Bernard Levin, an internationally recognized expert in colorectal cancer screening and Chair of the GeneNews Colorectal Cancer Clinical Advisory Board. "ColonSentry™ helps to address unmet needs faced by individuals and healthcare providers considering their colorectal cancer screening options. As a blood-based test it can help to improve compliance in individuals who are reluctant to undergo screening. As a risk stratification test providing information about an individual's relative risk of currently having colorectal cancer, it may facilitate a decision to undergo colonoscopy for those who would otherwise refuse colonoscopy. Importantly, it can help prioritize patients at greater current risk for colorectal cancer in healthcare systems with limited colonoscopy capacity. This could lead to earlier detection of colorectal cancer, thereby potentially reducing suffering and death."

"This paper in the prestigious International Journal of Cancer demonstrates that whole-blood gene expression profiling can be used to stratify an average risk population based on an individual's current relative risk of actually having colorectal cancer. We have identified and validated a seven-gene biomarker panel for colorectal cancer detection on 642 well-categorized colorectal cancer patients and controls," said Dr. Heiner Dreismann, Lead Director and Interim CEO of GeneNews. "When colonoscopy capacity or patient compliance is between 10% and 40%, which is the case in most countries, individuals with the highest current relative risk for colorectal cancer can be identified by an initial ColonSentry test result which would lead to a follow-up diagnostic colonoscopy. This approach which targets the use of colonoscopy in an average risk population would increase the colorectal cancer detection rate by as much as four times when compared to the use of colonoscopy alone to randomly screen the same population."

The paper entitled "A Blood-based Biomarker Panel for Stratifying Current Risk for Colorectal Cancer," will appear in the International Journal of Cancer. This paper is currently available online at

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