A First for Rhode Island Firefighters – Bladder Cancer Screening is Underway in Five Communities

By: Cancer News

In a first for Rhode Island, firefighters in Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, and Jamestown are being offered free screening for bladder cancer in a voluntary program paid for and sponsored by their local state representatives. Testing is being done with the NMP22® BladderChek® Test, a point-of-care urine test. Because results from the test are available in about 30 minutes, the firefighters being tested will have rapid access to information.

The program is helping to build awareness that firefighters are at an increased risk for bladder cancer and death from the disease. Legislation to make bladder cancer testing available annually to all firefighters in the state is also being sponsored by these state representatives.

The four state representatives sponsoring the program are, Rep. John J. Loughlin II (R – District 71 Tiverton, Portsmouth, and Little Compton), Rep. Joseph N. Amaral (R- District 70 Tiverton, Portsmouth), Rep. Bruce J. Long (R- District 74 Middletown, Jamestown), and Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt (D- District 22 Warwick). Joining them and speaking at a morning press conference in a show of support for the screening program and legislation were the fire chiefs from the five communities and Dr. Arvin Glickman, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Cancer Council (RICC).

The NMP22® BladderChek® Test, developed and commercialized by Matritech (Amex: MZT), detects elevated levels of the NMP22 protein in the urine, a sign of bladder cancer. Screening high risk groups with the NMP22® BladderChek® Test is reported to be cost effective because of its low cost and high accuracy for detecting bladder cancer.

To demonstrate how easy and inexpensive the test is, Reps. Loughlin, Long and Amaral said they are paying all costs associated with administering the tests for both paid and volunteer firefighters in their districts who want to be tested.

Rep. Ginaitt, a retired Warwick firefighter and cancer survivor, is leading the effort to get legislation enacted to create a statewide program, directed by the RI department of health, to test for, collect data on, and educate firefighters about bladder cancer and their risk for the disease. He said, “Until now, there hasn’t been an easy and inexpensive way to do bladder cancer screening.”

The legislation is sponsored by Rep. Ginaitt and co-sponsored by Reps. Loughlin, Long and Amaral. Rep. Loughlin, a former volunteer firefighter in Kingston, RI, will be one of the first to be tested today.

In the absence of screening one in four bladder cancers is detected when it is already advanced, requiring expensive treatment and has reduced survival. Screening high risk groups offers the potential for detecting cancers earlier, resulting in less extensive and less costly treatments, as well as improved survival. The five year survival rate is 94% for patients diagnosed with early stage, or noninvasive cancer, while patients with metastatic or advanced stages of the disease have as low as a 6% chance of surviving five years.

Stephen D. Chubb, Matritech’s Chairman and CEO said, “As with all cancers – early detection helps save lives. That message is being taken seriously in Rhode Island.” Mr. Chubb added, “Bladder cancer, although more prevalent in the U.S. than lung cancer, has never had a public champion to educate those at risk for the disease and urge them to be tested. That is changing today. I commend these state representatives for taking such an important step to champion bladder cancer awareness and screening for firefighters, a group who are in a high risk occupation.”

Studies have shown that people who have environmental and occupational exposure to certain chemicals including burning material, and soot have a higher risk for the disease. Prolonged exposure to benzene compounds found in burning debris is associated with bladder cancer risk. Even though firefighters wear an air pack, once the fire is knocked down, they usually take their packs off and are exposed to the burning material.

Most recently, recommendations supporting the screening of high risk groups for bladder cancer with the NMP22® BladderChek® Test were reported in the September 1, 2006 American Cancer Society’s (ACS) journal Cancer. Screening for bladder cancer in high risk individuals with the NMP22® BladderChek® Test could save lives and reduce overall medical expenses. All other cancer screening programs save lives but increase expenses.

About Bladder Cancer

There will be more than 63,000 new cases of bladder cancer in the U.S. this year and it is the 5th most common cancer among men and women. It is more common and has a higher mortality than cervical cancer. Bladder cancer is the second most common urologic malignancy in the U.S. after prostate cancer. It is almost as common in men as colon cancer. The prevalence of bladder cancer in the U.S. is higher than lung cancer and its prevalence in women is similar to ovarian cancer. Currently there are more than 500,000 Americans with a history of bladder cancer. The most common risk factor for bladder cancer is smoking. Occupational exposures to chemicals (aromatic amines) used in dry cleaning facilities and the production of dyes, paper, rope, apparel, rubber and petroleum products have been associated with increased risk for bladder cancer. Other industrial exposures implicated as risk factors for developing bladder cancer include combustion gases and soot from coal, chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, and chlorination by-products in heated water.

About the NMP22® BladderChek® Test

The NMP22® BladderChek® Test was developed and commercialized by Matritech, a leading developer and marketer of protein-based diagnostic products for the early detection of cancer. The NMP22 BladderChek Test detects elevated levels of the NMP22 protein marker in a single urine sample. Most healthy individuals have very small amounts of the NMP22 protein marker in their urine, but bladder cancer patients commonly have elevated NMP22 levels, even at early stages of the disease.

The NMP22® BladderChek® Test, a painless and noninvasive assay, is the only in-office test approved by the FDA for both the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer. It is used in a physician’s office, requires only four drops of urine and results are available in 30 minutes – during the patient visit, allowing a rapid and accurate way to aid in the detection of bladder cancer. The NMP22 BladderChek Test is reimbursed by Medicare and many medical insurers and has an average cost of less than $30. It also has been shown to detect over three times as many cancers as the commonly used laboratory based urine cytology test.

Two studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in February 2005 and January 2006 reported on clinical data showing the NMP22 BladderChek Test, used in combination with cystoscopy (a visual examination of the interior of the bladder using a scope inserted through the urethra), for the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer detected up to 99% of bladder malignancies. The NMP22 BladderChek Test also detected cancers that were missed during an initial cystoscopic examination, most of which were high grade. In other clinical study analyses it was shown to detect 100% of the aggressive tumors, one of which was muscle invasive, in women with symptoms or risk factors for bladder cancer. It was also reported to detect all the transitional cell cancers that occurred in the upper urinary tract of patients with risk factors or symptoms of bladder cancer. Cystoscopy did not identify these tumors because they were outside the viewing area of the instrument.

About Matritech

Matritech is using its patented proteomics technology to develop diagnostics for the detection of a variety of cancers. The Company's first two products, the NMP22® Test Kit and NMP22® BladderChek® Test, have been FDA approved for the monitoring and diagnosis of bladder cancer. The NMP22 BladderChek Test is based on Matritech's proprietary nuclear matrix protein (NMP) technology, which correlates levels of NMPs in body fluids to the presence of cancer. Beginning with a patent portfolio licensed exclusively from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Matritech’s patent portfolio has grown to 15 other U.S. patents. In addition to the NMP22 protein marker utilized in the NMP22 Test Kit and NMP22 BladderChek Test, the Company has discovered other proteins associated with cervical, breast, prostate, and colon cancer. The Company’s goal is to utilize protein markers to develop, through its own research staff and through strategic alliances, clinical applications to detect cancer.

Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

Any forward-looking statements relate to the Company's current expectations of the Company’s NMP22® products and technology. Actual results may differ materially from those predicted in such forward-looking statements due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company’s business, including without limitation risks and uncertainties including those detailed in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees. There can be no assurance that the Company's expectations for its products will be achieved. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Matritech undertakes no responsibility to revise or update any such forward-looking information.