Colorectal Cancer Test Determines Patient's Postsurgery Treatment

It is a molecular test for the staging of colorectal cancer patients. Staging a patient with colorectal cancer is crucial because it determines the patient's course of treatment after the surgery.

Current standard of care requires that pathologists microscopically examine lymph node tissue harvested during the patient's surgery to see if cancer has spread. But, at least 1 cancer cell must be present in every 200 normal cells to detect the spread of cancer. With this method, up to 30% of patients thought to have disease confined to the colon (stage I or II) return with recurrent disease, presumably because cancer cells were missed using the microscope method. Most of these patients do not receive additional therapies such as chemotherapy.

In contrast, the technology employed in Previstage GCC can detect as few as a single cancer cell among up to 10 million normal cells. In the test, minute quantities of GCC (GUCY2C) messenger RNA are amplified to magnify the presence of cancer cells. Knowing the correct stage when the cancer is initially detected can assist physicians in making the appropriate treatment decision such as adjuvant chemotherapy. Early treatment may reduce the possibility of recurrence and associated mortality rate.

Previstage GCC was developed and its characteristics validated and determined by DiagnoCure Oncology Laboratories (Quebec, Canada). DiagnoCure Inc. signed an exclusive agreement with Lab21 (Cambridge, UK), a global provider of diagnostic products and services, for the promotion, marketing, and selling of its Previstage GCC colorectal cancer staging test in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Lab21 will offer the Previstage GCC test as part of its oncology testing services, and patient samples will be processed in DiagnoCure's U.S. clinical laboratory. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

DiagnoCure is a life sciences company commercializing cancer diagnostic tests and delivering laboratory services. "This new partnership is a key initial step in reaching out to the European market. Lab21 is a leading provider of state-of-the-art diagnostics and world-class customer service. This new avenue will support the global growth for our Previstage GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test," stated John C. Schafer, president and CEO of DiagnoCure.

Lab21 is a global provider of state-of-the-art diagnostic products and services, supporting blood bank screening, medical diagnostics, and drug discovery. The service division has a growing test portfolio providing companion diagnostics and high technology molecular assays for the growing integration of personalized medicine into healthcare.

Related Links:
DiagnoCure Oncology Laboratories
Lab21