For Immediate Release

BOXBOROUGH, Mass. & WORCESTER, Mass., Sep 9, 2004 - Company will also fund research at UMMS for diagnostic and prognostic technology for cervical and breast cancer.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Cytyc Corporation have signed licensing and sponsored research agreements related to cancer detection technology developed at UMMS that may predict the onset and severity of certain cancers before a tumor actually forms.

The technology, which focuses on centrosomes in cancerous and pre-cancerous cells, was developed by Stephen J. Doxsey, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular medicine, biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, and cell biology at UMMS. "The relationship between centrosome abnormalities and cancer is a major focus of our work, so I'm pleased to see this technology taking an important step towards a clinical application," Dr. Doxsey said.

The agreement gives Cytyc a worldwide exclusive license to use Doxsey's technology for developing products in the areas of cancer diagnostics and prognostics. Cytyc will also sponsor research in Doxsey's lab to further explore the science as it applies to breast and cervical cancers. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Doxsey. His work on centrosomes extends our current research activities in the early detection of cervical and breast cancer," said James Linder, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer.

Doxsey is a nationally recognized leader in the study of cell division. His lab is at the forefront of researching the molecular mechanisms that can cause normal cells to mutate into cancerous cells. Much of that work focuses on the centrosome, a small part of a cell that helps chromosomes to line up properly during cell division.

A normal cell has two centrosomes. When the cell divides, the centrosomes pull apart the duplicate sets of chromosomes evenly; thereby making sure each new cell gets its proper complement of DNA. Cancerous cells, however, typically have three or more centrosomes (and/or defective centrosomes) which pull the chromosomes apart haphazardly, so when division occurs the new cells may get either too many or two few chromosomes, causing the genetic instability that leads some cells to grow into aggressive tumors.

In a series of papers in major journals, Doxsey's team has shown that in nearly all carcinomas, including breast, prostate, lung, brain and cervical cancers, the centrosomes are defective either in number, or structure, or both. Doxsey also demonstrated that the centrosome defects are present very early in pre-cancerous lesions, including HPV-induced cervical abnormalities. In addition, the degree of centrosomal defects in certain lesions is correlated to the aggressiveness of the cancer that may eventually develop.