Lab21 widens oncology portfolio with new tests

The launch coincides with the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference 2009 in Birmingham, and Lab21 will host a seminar, entitled 'Advances in Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer', during the event.

Cellcheck has been developed for the detection of circulating metastatic tumour cells; Theros Cancertype ID is for the characterisation of tumours with unknown primary; and Stagecheck is a sensitive test for staging colorectal cancer.

The three tests are the latest additions to Lab21's oncology service, building on its Respiragene test to identify smokers that are most at risk of lung cancer, its KRAS and EGFR tests to identify cancer patients suited to particular drugs, and Dosecheck, which optimises Fluorouracil chemotherapy to reduce adverse events and treatment costs and improve patient survival and quality of life.

Cellcheck utilises a CE-marked test developed by Adnagen to capture circulating metastatic tumour cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients with breast, colon or prostate cancer.

Cellcheck is said to have significant medical benefits including the ability to monitor the success of treatment as the persistence of CTCs during therapy can indicate failure to respond.

Cancertype ID was developed by the Biomerieux subsidiary Biotheranostics to identify the origin of tumours of unknown primary and to assist in difficult differential diagnoses and therapeutic choices.

The benefits of the test are said to include improved assessment of disease prognosis, a shortened time to the initiation of therapy and a decrease in the need for diagnostic imaging.

Stagecheck, which makes use of the Previstage GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging test developed by Diagnocure Oncology Laboratories, is a sensitive test that radically improves the accuracy of staging of colorectal cancer via the detection of cancer cells in lymph nodes.

This can have profound consequences in therapeutic management of cancer patients.