Blood Test Enables Earlier Detection of Breast Cancer

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 16 Feb 2016

Image: Staining with the monoclonal antibody TAB-004 is so specific for most cases of mammary carcinoma, immunoreactivity in the tumor can be appreciated even without the microscope. OncoTAb’s blood test may be a useful supplemental test with mammography for women with dense breast tissue (Photo courtesy of OncoTab).

Extensive mammographic density may make breast cancer more difficult to detect by mammography and thus increases the risk of the development of cancer between mammographic screening tests.

A noninvasive blood test for the early detection of breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue has been developed. The test accurately detects a specific biomarker present in more than 90% of breast cancer patients and is specific to all major breast cancer subtypes, including triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (NC, USA) studied data from more than 750 patient samples that showed the technology, a patented, monoclonal antibody known as TAB-004, accurately detects the specific biomarker present in the majority of breast cancer patients. The blood test developed by OncoTAb, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) spin-out company that has a patent-protected technology, will be made available online in Q1 2016, on the order of a physician or other licensed health care provider, as supplement to mammography.

Chad A. Livasy, MD, a breast pathologist for the Carolinas HealthCare System, reviewed 440 test samples and noted TAB-004's high level of accuracy. He said “The staining is so specific with TAB-004, for most cases of mammary carcinoma immunoreactivity in the tumor (the interaction process between the antibody and breast cancer) can be appreciated even without the microscope. You can just hold the slide up to visualize the strong staining. In contrast, benign lesions show absence of staining. Given this specificity, OncoTAb's blood test may be a useful supplemental test with mammography for women with dense breast tissue.

Pinku Mukherjee, PhD, co-founder and Chief Science Officer of OncoTAb, said, “The data clearly demonstrates that this antibody can be used to target tumors in vivo with promising imaging and therapeutic applications. These possibilities include the development of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) engineered T-cells for treating TNBC—one of the most difficult cancers to treat.”

Related Links:
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
OncoTAb