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ANGLE breakthrough hailed for 'unprecedented' performance in detecting ovarian cancer

Last updated: 02:46 28 Jan 2015 AEDT, First published: 03:46 28 Jan 2015 AEDT

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A clinical study of medtech firm ANGLE’s (LON:AGL) Parsortix system for harvesting circulating tumour cells has hailed its “unprecedented sensitivity and specificity” in identifying ovarian cancer.

The device was used in harness with RNA markers by the Medical University of Vienna and was very accurate in picking up the tell-tale signs of the killer disease and then identifying the strain.

To give an indication of how well it performed in this limited patient study, results to date with other non-antibody based systems captured circulating tumour cells in only one-quarter of ovarian cancer patients.

The results of the Vienna research indicated a sensitivity of 90% for primary epithelial ovarian cancer at a specificity of 100%.

Epithelial ovarian cancer, also known as ovarian carcinoma, is the most common ovarian cancer and accounts for nine out of ten cases.

Dr Eva Obermayr, principal investigator, described the results with ANGLE's Parsortix system as "sensational".

The Medical University of Vienna, one of the key opinion leaders in the field, now plans a more thoroughgoing, 18-month clinical study of the Parsortix system.

Specifically, the device will be deployed in the routine detection and treatment of ovarian cancer patients.

This will be a multi-centre investigation in collaboration with other members of the European Network for Translational Research in Ovarian Cancer and the Tumour Bank Ovarian Cancer Network from Austria, Belgium, Germany and UK.

If the initial results are repeated, then Professor Robert Zeillinger, head of the Molecular Oncology Group at Vienna, believes Parsortix, in tandem with RNA markers, could become the gold standard for detection of ovarian cancer in high-risk patients.

It could also be used for selecting and monitoring therapies and keeping tabs on those in remission.

Zeillinger said: "Using ANGLE's Parsortix system with a panel of ovarian carcinoma-specific RNA markers, we were able to detect and analyse CTCs in 90% of patient samples at a specificity of 100%.

“This is an unprecedented test performance and we will be immediately moving to a clinical study to validate the use of this system in the detection and treatment of ovarian cancer patients.

“We will also be preparing a high impact publication on these results for discussion with our colleagues in ovarian cancer worldwide."

The World Cancer Fund estimates 240,000 women annually are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which has a high mortality rate.

This is because the disease tends to become apparent only during the later stages of its progression.

So, if a method for earlier detection could be established then survival rates for the disease could be greatly improved.

The City firm Cenkos points out the five-year survival rate is 90% for patients who are diagnosed at stage-one (the very earliest phase).

At the moment the standard diagnostic test for ovarian cancer is the biomarker CA-125. The test has a sensitivity of 63%, which means that 37% of cancers are missed.

And recently the America’s Food & Drug Administration approved the first blood test that can assess the likelihood that an ovarian mass is malignant prior to surgery.

OVA1, developed by NASDAQ-listed Vermillion, integrates a software algorithm and blood test and quotes a sensitivity of 93% but a specificity of only 43%.

As both methods of detection are seemingly inferior to ANGLE’s, there could be a significant market for Parsortix.

Cenkos’ head of life sciences, Navid Malik, reckons ovarian cancer tests could generate sales of £300mln a year.

“With such a large market and with a very few number of competitors, there is scope for Parsortix to revolutionise the ovarian cancer diagnostics space, assuming validation of the system is achieved in the full clinical study,” the analyst added.

The shares rose over 25% % to 68.5p.

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