About UH

Marlborough, MA and Cleveland, OH – (December 22, 2008) – EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAS) and University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) of Cleveland, Ohio today jointly announced that UHCMC has launched a program for stool-based DNA (sDNA) screening within its health care system at two sites comprising fifteen physicians.  For patients unwilling or unable to obtain a colonoscopy, sDNA screening will now be the preferred method of screening offered at the sites.  UHCMC will evaluate program performance to determine broader roll-out of sDNA screening system-wide.

“Among our guiding principles is to pursue and implement breakthrough medical advancements and practices to deliver superior clinical outcomes for our patients,” said Stanton Gerson, MD, Director, Ireland Cancer Center of UHCMC, Director of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University.  “Our new sDNA screening initiative within UH Case Medical Center is an exciting example of this principle in action. Non-invasive sDNA screening includes the Vimentin gene, a genetic locus discovered by Dr. Sanford Markowitz of the Ireland Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve Medical School, a discovery that we believe can have a dramatic impact on increasing screening rates and decreasing mortality.”

CLEVELAND – Nathan Levitan, MD, MBA, has been appointed President of the University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center (ICC) and Senior Vice President, System Cancer Services, effective November 1, 2008.

In his new role, Dr. Levitan is responsible for cancer-related clinical program development, quality outcomes, strategic planning, and the ongoing integration of clinical trials into the ICC model of care. While working in close collaboration with Stanton Gerson, MD, Director of the Ireland Cancer Center, Dr. Levitan will oversee the continued growth of our ICC Regional Network as well as the consolidation of cancer services at UH Case Medical Center into the new UH Cancer Hospital that is scheduled to open in 2010.

CLEVELAND – Research out of the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center has found that the vast majority of triple negative breast cancers express the MUC-1 target. This first-of-its-kind finding, presented today at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, has paved the way for an upcoming vaccine trial for patients with early stage triple negative breast cancer that could potentially prevent recurrence of this aggressive type of breast cancer.

Joseph Baar, MD, PhD, Director of Breast Cancer Research at the Ireland Cancer Center, and colleagues analyzed 53 tumors and determined that 92 percent of them expressed MUC-1.  These findings support their theory that this MUC-1 protein on breast cancer cells could be a target for a novel vaccine using the patient’s immune system to target and kill cancer cells.

CLEVELAND – More than 100 government, business and health care leaders will gather at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital on Nov. 20 to join other children’s hospitals across the nation in hosting simultaneous town hall meetings to discuss health care reform and the issues of greatest priority for President-elect Barack Obama's administration. Rainbow is the only children’s hospital in Ohio hosting the town hall session. The town hall discussion will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Proposals to Policy: a National Conversation on Health Care Reform is a unique effort that draws together local leaders in a town hall setting to debate and determine the main concerns facing health care reform in Ohio and how those concerns can translate to change at the national level.

CHARDON – Harold and Donna Davis have donated $800,000 to support the renovation and relocation of the Center for Dialysis Care at University Hospitals Extended Care Campus (ECC) in Geauga County.