The shares of fast-growing biotech company Impedimed Limited (ASX: IPD) rocketed higher by as much as 10% this morning following the release of a positive announcement to the market.
The announcement revealed that a new study published in the Frontiers in Oncology journal demonstrates the impact that the company's L-Dex lymphoedema detection product can have on patients that are at risk from breast cancer related lymphoedema.
The retrospective study followed 326 patients which had undergone either an axillary lymph node dissection or a sentinel lymph node biopsy with a median follow-up time of 21.7 months. Patients were monitored with L-Dex measurements as part of their routine post-operative follow-up.
The cumulative incidence of sub-clinical lymphoedema was 4.3% for sentinel lymph node biopsy patients and 26.7% for axillary lymph node dissection patients. Very positively L-Dex allowed for early intervention for these patients, which resulted in a reduction of persistent, clinical lymphoedema by 99.5% and 91.4% respectively.
According to the release the study concluded that:
"The results of this retrospective study demonstrate that L-Dex assessments can be incorporated into routine breast cancer programs as part of follow-up. This is critically important given the recent changes in the NCCN survivorship guidelines for post-treatment follow-up care for breast cancer patients establishing that health-care providers educate, monitor, and refer for lymphedema management."
Clearly this is a very positive step forward for L-Dex and it comes as little surprise to see its shares bolt higher. If L-Dex is incorporated into routine breast cancer programs then ImpediMed is in a great position to prosper.
I'm a big fan of ImpediMed and believe that it is up there with the likes of Nanosonics Ltd. (ASX: NAN) and REVA Medical Inc (ASX: RVA) as one of the most promising companies in the sector.
But let's not forget that it is still early days for both L-Dex and its recently launched health and wellness tracker SOZO. As a result I would suggest restricting any investment in the company to just a small part of your portfolio.
