We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
INTEGRA BIOSCIENCES AG

Download Mobile App




Simple Blood Test Could More Than Double Liver Cancer Detection Rate in High-Risk Population

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 22 Nov 2022
Print article
Image: Liver cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide (Photo courtesy of Delfi Diagnostics)
Image: Liver cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide (Photo courtesy of Delfi Diagnostics)

The ravages of liver cancer are underappreciated in terms of their public health impact. The mortality rate from the disease has risen steadily over decades, making it the sixth leading cancer killer in the United States and the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Globally, the high-risk population of over 350 million individuals is growing due to increases in fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and chronic viral hepatitis infections. Meanwhile, despite data from randomized clinical trials demonstrating that early detection can reduce disease mortality, and longstanding recommendations that high risk individuals are regularly assessed, fewer than 20% of those eligible undergo screening either in the U.S. or overseas. Now, a new study has shown that a test which is easy to perform with a routine blood sample and relatively low cost could more than double the number of liver cancer cases detected in a high-risk population compared to today's standard of care – a mix of ultrasound imaging and protein tests that few patients receive.

Delfi Diagnostics’ (Baltimore, MD, USA) high-performance, accessible liquid biopsy platform has shown promise in a new tumor type. Delfi had previously announced that it is developing a low-cost, highly sensitive blood test for lung cancer screening. The new findings show how Delfi's platform could be applied in a second clinical context. Using the DELFI platform, researchers have demonstrated its ability to accurately detect liver cancer in a cohort of more than 700 individuals from the U.S., the European Union, and Hong Kong. The technology performed well even at the earliest stages of disease, and showed 88% sensitivity at 98% specificity in an average risk population.

"We are pleased to see promising early data in liver cancer, which is a cancer type with a significant unmet need and potential clinical utility," said Jenn Buechel, Delfi's Chief Operating Officer. "These data, combined with our previous promising data in lung cancer, provides an additional proof of concept for our technology platform across multiple cancer types."

"Like lung cancer, liver cancer is a disease with proven benefit from early detection, a large and well defined at-risk population, and a need for an early detection approach that is highly sensitive for early disease, affordable, and accessible - criteria the current approaches have not satisfied. We come to work in the hopes of tackling pressing global and U.S. public health challenges, so this disease, and these data, align with Delfi's criteria and mission," said Peter B. Bach, M.D., Delfi's Chief Medical Officer.

Related Links:
Delfi Diagnostics 

Gold Member
Pharmacogenetics Panel
VeriDose Core Panel v2.0
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Typhoid Rapid Test
OnSite Typhoid IgG/IgM Combo Rapid Test
New
Pipet Controller
Stripettor Pro

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: Professor Nicole Strittmatter (left) and first author Wei Chen stand in front of the mass spectrometer with a tissue sample (Photo courtesy of Robert Reich/TUM)

Mass Spectrometry Detects Bacteria Without Time-Consuming Isolation and Multiplication

Speed and accuracy are essential when diagnosing diseases. Traditionally, diagnosing bacterial infections involves the labor-intensive process of isolating pathogens and cultivating bacterial cultures,... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The new algorithms can help predict which patients have undiagnosed cancer (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Advanced Predictive Algorithms Identify Patients Having Undiagnosed Cancer

Two newly developed advanced predictive algorithms leverage a person’s health conditions and basic blood test results to accurately predict the likelihood of having an undiagnosed cancer, including ch... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.