Castle Biosciences Celebrates Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month through Advocacy and Educational Collaborations

Castle Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSTL), a company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care, recognizes the importance of Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month and is providing its support of key programs and initiatives throughout the month of April. The Company is proud to continue its ongoing collaboration with the Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN), Gastro Broadcast podcast and EndoscopyNow to help advance esophageal cancer research, prevention, education and advocacy.

“Unfortunately, esophageal cancer is often detected at its late stages and the five-year survival rate of esophageal cancer patients is less than 20%,”¹ said Emmanuel Gorospe, M.D., MPH, CPI, FACP, FACG, FASGE, GI Medical Director at Castle Biosciences. “Therefore, prevention and early detection are key. We are proud to continue efforts to promote awareness of the disease and provide holistic support directed towards patients as well as the GI professional community through research, advocacy and educational initiatives.”

Detection of esophageal cancer and its precursor, Barrett’s esophagus (BE), is challenging because the primary symptoms — heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) — are common to a multitude of less serious ailments that are typically not cause for concern. TissueCypher® is Castle’s prognostic risk-stratification test designed to predict progression to high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer.

Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN)

Castle is collaborating with ECAN’s Steps to Save Lives, a virtual 5k run/walk/roll and the organization’s signature fundraising event, being held April 21–28, 2024. For more information or to get involved, visit ECAN’s Steps to Save Lives page.

“When ECAN began Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month 15 years ago, most people had never heard of, what was at the time, the fastest-increasing cancer in the U.S. — up at least 600% in recent decades — and today, esophageal cancer remains the fastest-increasing cancer diagnosis among American men,”¹ said Mindy Mintz Mordecai, president and chief executive officer of ECAN. “Thanks to the support of our corporate partners, not only are more people becoming aware that reflux disease can cause this devastating cancer, innovation by these companies is resulting in better tests and tools that increase the chance that patients can prevent this deadly disease before it starts.”

Gastro Broadcast

Castle is collaborating with Gastro Broadcast, a podcast featuring independent GI physicians having conversations with their colleagues, patient advocates and industry leaders on issues that impact gastroenterology. For an April episode, Castle collaborated with host, Dr. Naresh Gunaratnam of Huron Gastroenterology, who interviewed Dr. Sri Komanduri, Associate Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, to discuss efforts to educate the public about esophageal cancer and tools that can identify and stratify risk for the disease in patients with BE.

EndoscopyNow

Castle is collaborating with EndoscopyNow, a mobile application used among the GI professional community, and in April, is sponsoring EndoscopyNow’s first “Masters in Endoscopy” webinar, titled “Current Gaps and Risk Stratification in Barrett's Esophagus.” Presented by Dr. Sri Komanduri, the webinar will take place Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Register for the webinar here or access it on demand in the EndoscopyNow app following the broadcast.

About Esophageal Cancer Action Network

The Esophageal Cancer Action Network (ECAN) is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization supporting esophageal cancer patients and their families. Their mission is to save lives by 1) increasing awareness about the link between Reflux Disease and Cancer, 2) promoting early detection, 3) supporting medical innovation to prevent, detect, treat and cure Esophageal Cancer, and 4) providing patients and families with the latest, most reliable medical information and compassionate support. ECAN’s relentless advocacy has increased the federal budget for Esophageal Cancer research by more than $15 million in the past three years, and millions more is expected in the years to come. Visit https://ecan.org/ for more information.

About Gastro Broadcast

Gastro Broadcast Independent GI Radio is a twice-monthly podcast featuring independent GI physicians and administrative leaders having conversations with their colleagues on issues that impact gastroenterology. While they may discuss treatment programs or innovative patient care in certain GI practices, Gastro Broadcast mostly explores how GI physicians navigate medicine, business, practice management, policy advocacy and many other issues they face in today’s healthcare environment. Access episodes online at https://gastrobroadcast.com/ or through 3^rd party applications Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

About EndoscopyNow

The EndoscopyNow digital platform is a specialty-agnostic mobile application presenting news, clinical data, procedural insights, and product information to the global GI endoscopy community. To learn more about EndoscopyNow, visit www.EndoscopyNow.com.

About Castle Biosciences

Castle Biosciences (Nasdaq: CSTL) is a leading diagnostics company improving health through innovative tests that guide patient care. The Company aims to transform disease management by keeping people first: patients, clinicians, employees and investors.

Castle’s current portfolio consists of tests for skin cancers, Barrett’s esophagus, mental health conditions and uveal melanoma. Additionally, the Company has active research and development programs for tests in other diseases with high clinical need, including its test in development to help guide systemic therapy selection for patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and related conditions. To learn more, please visit www.CastleBiosciences.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X and Instagram.

DecisionDx-Melanoma, DecisionDx-CMSeq, DecisionDx-SCC, MyPath Melanoma, DiffDx-Melanoma, TissueCypher, IDgenetix, DecisionDx-UM, DecisionDx-PRAME and DecisionDx-UMSeq are trademarks of Castle Biosciences, Inc.

1. Esophageal Cancer Action Network; https://ecan.org/; accessed 4/10/24

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