Dallas, Texas -February 4, 2016 - MorNuCo Laboratories of West Lafayette, Indiana, and their ONCOblot® Test recently completed a retrospective clinical trial focusing on the early detection of malignant mesothelioma, with the exciting results that the ONCOblot® test detected a molecular marker that is indicative of the presence of mesothelioma, 4-10 years in advance of clinical symptoms appearing. MorNuCo Laboratories is elated to share these results with the public, as early detection is widely considered the corner stone of an effective strategy to reduce cancer-related deaths.
Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive and almost uniformly fatal tumor caused primarily by exposure to asbestos. In this study, the serum presence of a mesothelioma-specific form of the ENOX2 protein (a recently identified marker of malignancy) was found within the serum of asbestos-exposed individuals an average of 6.2 years in advance of clinical symptoms by using the ONCOblot tissue of origin cancer detection test.
Serum samples that were collected from asbestos-exposed individuals prior to the development of mesothelioma as part of a cancer surveillance program were tested for ENOX2 protein presence to determine how long in advance of clinical symptoms that the mesothelioma-specific ENOX2 protein transcript variants could be detected.
The results of this study showed that two mesothelioma-specific ENOX2 protein transcript variants were detected in the serum of asbestos-exposed individuals 4-10 years prior to clinical diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma, an exciting sign of progress in the cancer detection field.
"The completion of this trial is an exciting new chapter for our work," says Nick Miner, Vice President of Business Development. "Although asbestos-induced mesothelioma is a very specific example of early detection, we are currently pursuing larger-scale clinical trials to investigate the utility of the ENOX2 protein marker to predict the onset of cancers of other tissues of origin as well." Miner continued.
Although the fight against cancer often appears to be an overwhelmingly intransigent problem, significant progress is being made regarding the development of additional tools for cancer detection, such as the ONCOblot Test.
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About ONCOblot®
The ONCOblot® Test was developed and created by Dr. D. James Morré and Dr. Dorothy M. Morré of MorNuCo Inc., located in the Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, IN. The Morré's are committed to the premise that understanding cancer is the key to its conquest. The ONCOblot® test is based on more than 20 years of basic research. The ONCOblot test is a Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) that was developed at MorNuCo Inc. The ONCOblot Test is CLIA registered and meets all current FDA regulations as an LDT. A 510(k) application is being prepared for submission to the FDA to register the ONCOblot test as a medical device.
If you'd like more information about the ONCOblot® Test, please visit http://www.oncoblotlabs.com or e-mail info@oncoblotlabs.com
If you'd like to read the clinical study, please visit http://clinicalproteomicsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12014-016-9103-3
Journal
Clinical Proteomics