14 December 2007
Opaldia to launch breast cancer blood test in 2008
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OPALDIA TO LAUNCH BREAST CANCER BLOOD TEST IN 2008
The leading private breast cancer care provider, Opaldia (1), is to launch a diagnostic blood test for early stage breast cancer.
The test has been developed by Norwegian life sciences company DiaGenic ASA. Opaldia will market the test in the UK.
The test works by detecting gene expression patterns (2) in peripheral blood – ie: a normal venous sample - not taken from the breast.
A blood test will give women the opportunity to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages – when usually undetectable by touch or mammograms - and when they have no symptoms.
The blood test has been validated in international trials, most recently in India, suggesting there is no ethnic variability in the gene expression signature.
“I think it is really important to investigate better ways of detecting early breast cancer in young women.
“All health professionals who work with breast cancer are concerned that mammograms may be sub optimal in young women under 47. Therefore a new test used alongside mammography would provide the optimal chance of detecting the cancer as early as possible.
Dr Mackay, who is the UK’s only Consultant Clinical Genetic Oncologist, adds: “The DiaGenic breast cancer blood test is an exciting new weapon in the fight against breast cancer. By using the test and mammography together we may be able to detect tumours at an early stage.
“The test analyses the expression of genes which are not specifically cancer genes.
“By studying these non-cancer genes, experts can detect a specific, distinctive gene expression pattern.
“This is breast cancer's unique fingerprint, in blood.”
Dr Erik Christensen, managing director of DiaGenic, says: “We are excited to be collaborating with such a leading company in the breast cancer field as Opaldia.”
Professor Anne-Lise Børresen-Dale, of the Institute of Cancer Research in Oslo, Norway, and who sits on DiaGenic’s Scientific Advisory Board, held a speech on reducing breast cancer mortality at the Genesis conference in London on December 13. She described the DiaGenic blood test as an exciting new development in the field of breast cancer diagnostics. Prof. Børresen-Dale is president elect in European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and former Member of The Board of Directors, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Editor’s Notes:
- Opaldia is a private healthcare provider which aims to provide a lifelong breast cancer screening service to its members. All its services are offered in independent hospitals by consultants. Other gene expression tests offered by the company in the breast cancer field are: MammaPrint – for disease prognosis; and CupPrint, which identifies the unknown origin of some tumours that have metastasised.
- Gene expression tests analyse the presence and abundance of mRNA molecules – the copy of DNA that is made before it is itself decoded and ‘read’, or transcribed, into a protein. By looking at patterns of lots of genes switching on (high mRNA abundance) scientists can analyse a ‘gene expression signature’. By comparing the pattern of healthy tissue or blood to diseased tissue or blood, they can observe the changes in gene expression that occur when disease develops. This can then be used as a test to diagnose disease.
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For more information:
Amanda Hayhurst, Hayhurst Media
020-8487 3788; mobile: 0772 0205581; amanda@hayhurstmedia.com
James Mackay, Opaldia, 020-7554 4045; mobile: 07894 200460; james.mackay@opaldia.com
Issued on behalf of Opaldia Ltd
27 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6ES.
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