British biotech company Angle has unveiled the trial results of a potential breakthrough blood test for diagnosing ovarian cancer.
The test could lead to quicker diagnosis and referrals for women with malignant tumours to specialist surgeons.
Angle, an AIM-listed liquid biopsy specialist, said its new test proved 95pc accurate at detecting cancerous cells in the bloodstream in a study of 400 patients in Europe and the US.
It was also nearly twice as effective as current tests at identifying false-positives.
The test could help doctors differentiate more easily between malignant ovarian tumours – around one in ten cases – and benign tumours, allowing more cost-effective referrals to a specialist or general surgeon as appropriate.
In the UK alone 7,400 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.
Angle founder and chief executive Andrew Newlands said liquid biopsy had the potential to “transform cancer care in the future”.
“Through a simple blood test, it will be possible to provide repeat testing of patients’ cancer,” he added.
Commenting on the trial results, Louise Bayne, an ovarian cancer survivor and chief executive of ovarian cancer support charity Ovacome, said she was encouraged the test had “the potential to make the significant leap forward in diagnosing this difficult to detect disease”.
She added: “Our members experience significant delays between presentation at their GP and a referral and a simple blood test performed earlier in the diagnostic pathway has the potential to make significant impacts on the outcomes for thousands of women.”
Angle’s trial also showed the potential to gather gene expression information that can assist with selecting the right treatment. This comes as the Government’s chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, called for a gene testing revolution.
The test results will now be validated in another study designed to meet European CE Mark and US FDA regulatory requirements.
Shares in Angle, which has a market cap of just over £50m, closed down 1.5pc at 67p on Tuesday, after spiking earlier in the day.
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