Veracyte Announces New Study Published in Cell Shows that Decipher Prostate Test Predicts Chemotherapy Benefit in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Findings are from the multicenter, prospective, Phase 3 STAMPEDE trial
Veracyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:VCYT), a leading genomic diagnostics company, and University College London (UCL) today announced that data published online in Cell show that the Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier predicts which patients with metastatic cancer are likely to benefit from treatment intensification with the chemotherapy docetaxel and which are not likely to benefit and can therefore avoid unnecessary toxicity. The findings—from the randomized, prospective, Phase 3 STAMPEDE trial—are the first to be published showing that a gene expression test can help clinicians better personalize chemotherapy decisions for patients with metastatic prostate cancer.
Globally, nearly 1.5 million new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year and the disease accounts for a fifth (nearly 400,000) of all cancer-related deaths in men, with these numbers expected to increase over the next two decades.1,2 In the United States, nearly 315,000 patients will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among men.3 Most prostate cancer deaths occur in patients who first presented with advanced or metastatic disease—a group that has been growing faster in recent years in the U.S., compared to those presenting with localized disease.3
"Our findings suggest that the Decipher Prostate test may provide an important new tool to help guide treatment decisions for the growing population of patients with metastatic prostate cancer," said Professor Gerhardt Attard, director of UCL Cancer Institute and STAMPEDE trial co-investigator. "Treatment intensification with docetaxel, in addition to standard-of-care androgen deprivation therapy, is shown to improve survival for patients with metastatic prostate cancer. However, response rates vary and clinicians have had limited tools to identify who will likely benefit and who will not. Our results demonstrate the Decipher test's ability to make this distinction."
The study involved 1523 patients with high-risk or metastatic prostate cancer who were randomized to standard-of-care treatment with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) or to chemotherapy plus ADT. Patients were then followed for a median of 14 years. Among the 832 patients with metastatic prostate cancer, those with higher Decipher Prostate scores had improved survival benefit (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.48-0.86) from docetaxel, while those with lower Decipher scores did not (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.71-1.30; biomarker-treatment interaction p=0.039).
The findings remained consistent, regardless of each patient's metastatic disease volume. This is important because current clinical practice favors use of docetaxel in patients with high- but not low-volume disease.
"The Decipher Prostate test's ability to help guide treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer has already been established in dozens of peer-reviewed publications and it is the only gene expression test to achieve ‘Level I' evidence status in the most recent NCCN® Guidelines* for prostate cancer," said Elai Davicioni, Ph.D., Veracyte's medical director for Urology. "This new publication provides important clinical evidence from a Phase 3 trial that supports expanded use of our test to patients with metastatic cancer—an area where there is a clear unmet need."
Veracyte began making the Decipher test for metastatic prostate cancer broadly available to clinicians in the U.S. in June 2025. The expanded-use test was developed through an ongoing collaboration between Veracyte and University College London.
"The recent introduction of the Decipher test for metastatic prostate cancer reinforces the power of our Veracyte Diagnostics Platform. This platform helps harness our whole-transcriptome data-generation capabilities and our commitment to partnering with the research community to advance cancer understanding and innovation. Ultimately, our goal is to further help improve patient care," said Phil Febbo, M.D., Veracyte's chief scientific officer and chief medical officer.
For the current study, Veracyte performed whole-transcriptome analysis of all prostate samples. In addition to the commercially available Decipher Prostate test, other research-use-only gene signatures were evaluated. One notable finding was that metastatic tumors with both a high Decipher Prostate test score and a PTEN-inactive gene signature had the greatest benefit from the addition of docetaxel, suggesting potential opportunities to enable further-personalized patient care in the future.
About Decipher Prostate
The Decipher Prostate Genomic Classifier is a 22-gene test, developed using RNA whole-transcriptome analysis and machine learning, that helps inform treatment decisions for patients across the full spectrum of prostate cancer. The test is performed on biopsy or surgically resected samples and conveys the aggressiveness of the cancer. For patients with localized or regional prostate cancer, the Decipher score indicates a patient's risk of metastasis, helping to determine treatment timing and intensity. For patients with metastatic prostate cancer, the Decipher score indicates the likelihood of cancer progression and survival benefit with treatment intensification. Armed with this information, physicians can better personalize their patients' care. The Decipher Prostate test's performance and clinical utility has been demonstrated in over 90 studies involving more than 200,000 patients. It is the only gene expression test to achieve "Level I" evidence status and inclusion in the risk-stratification table in the most recent NCCN® Guidelines* for prostate cancer. More information about the Decipher Prostate test can be found here.
About UCL – London's Global University
UCL is a diverse global community of world-class academics, students, industry links, external partners, and alumni. Our powerful collective of individuals and institutions work together to explore new possibilities.
Since 1826, we have championed independent thought by attracting and nurturing the world's best minds. Our community of more than 50,000 students from 150 countries and over 16,000 staff pursues academic excellence, breaks boundaries and makes a positive impact on real world problems.
The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year 2024, we are consistently ranked among the top 10 universities in the world and are one of only a handful of institutions rated as having the strongest academic reputation and the broadest research impact.
We have a progressive and integrated approach to our teaching and research – championing innovation, creativity and cross-disciplinary working. We teach our students how to think, not what to think, and see them as partners, collaborators and contributors.
For almost 200 years, we are proud to have opened higher education to students from a wide range of backgrounds and to change the way we create and share knowledge.
We were the first in England to welcome women to university education and that courageous attitude and disruptive spirit is still alive today. We are UCL.
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow @uclnews on Bluesky | Read news at www.ucl.ac.uk/news/
About Veracyte
Veracyte (NASDAQ:VCYT) is a global diagnostics company whose vision is to transform cancer care for patients all over the world. We empower clinicians with the high-value insights they need to guide and assure patients at pivotal moments in the race to diagnose and treat cancer. Our Veracyte Diagnostics Platform delivers high-performing cancer tests that are fueled by broad genomic and clinical data, deep bioinformatic and AI capabilities, and a powerful evidence-generation engine, which ultimately drives durable reimbursement and guideline inclusion for our tests, along with new insights to support continued innovation and pipeline development. For more information, please visit www.veracyte.com or follow us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to our statements that suggest that the test may provide an important new tool to help guide treatment decisions for this growing patient population and that this platform helps harness our whole-transcriptome data-generation capabilities and our commitment to partnering with the research community to advance cancer understanding and innovation.. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "appears," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "expect," "believe," "should," "may," "will," "enable," "positioned," "offers," "designed," "ultimately," and similar references to future periods. Actual results may differ materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from our predictions, and include, but are not limited to the potential impact the Veracyte Diagnostics Platform can have on scientific advancements in cancer and, in turn, patient care. Additional factors that may impact these forward-looking statements can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 28, 2025. Copies of these documents, when available, may be found in the Investors section of our website at https://investor.veracyte.com. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, we specifically disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements or reasons why actual results might differ, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Veracyte, the Veracyte logo, and Decipher are registered trademarks of Veracyte, Inc., and its subsidiaries in the U.S. and selected countries.
* National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN makes no warranties of any kind whatsoever regarding their content, use or application and disclaims any responsibility for their application or use in any way.
1 Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024;74(3):229263. doi:10.3322/caac.21834.
2 James, N. D. et al. The Lancet Commission on prostate cancer: planning for the surge in cases. Lancet 403, 1683–1722 (2024).
3 American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2025. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2025.
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