Precision health firm Helix has announced a partnership with cancer diagnostics company Veracyte that will make it easier for urologists to add comprehensive germline testing for patients with high-risk localised and metastatic prostate cancer.
Through this collaboration, Helix's whole-exome based hereditary cancer test will be available alongside Veracyte's Decipher prostate test, enabling a more complete view of each patient's cancer biology and inherited risk. The partnership reinforces the companies’ shared commitment to expanding access to clinically actionable genomic insights in prostate cancer care.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend germline genetic testing for patients with metastatic and high-risk localised prostate cancer. Germline findings can influence therapeutic decision-making, including the use of targeted therapies like PARP inhibitors. The integration of Helix's hereditary cancer test into the Decipher ordering workflow gives physicians a convenient way to access this important information and deliver more personalised care.
"Patients diagnosed with cancer deserve seamless access to genomic insights that can improve their care – not just in academic centres, but wherever they're treated," said James Lu MD PhD, CEO and co-founder of Helix. "Through our work with Veracyte, we're helping expand access to both germline and transcriptomic insights in a single clinical workflow, so physicians can more easily align care decisions with the latest clinical guidelines."
Understanding a patient's inherited predisposition to cancer offers a number of benefits. It can inform treatment choices, identify risk for additional cancers, and provide actionable information to at-risk family members. When paired with pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing, providers can also better match treatments to each patient's genetic profile to improve safety and efficacy.
This collaboration is part of Helix's broader mission to make precision medicine more accessible and impactful for all patients. Helix currently runs the Helix Research Network, the largest and fastest growing precision clinical research network in the world, where several of its partners have begun launching universal cancer screening programs for patients diagnosed with cancer. With its proprietary Exome+ assay and Sequence Once, Query Often model, Helix delivers high-quality genomic insights at scale, enabling ongoing clinical value that may reduce the need for repeat testing.