ANGLE PLC (AIM:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY), a specialist in liquid biopsy technology, has announced promising results from an independent study using the company's Parsortix technology in melanoma.
Specifically, the findings highlight the benefits of combining DNA analysis methods to guide personalised cancer care.
Dr Laura Keller's team at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany Parsortix to isolate circulating tumour cells (CTCs) from blood samples of skin cancer patients.
These CTCs were compared to DNA from tumour tissue and circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA).
This deep dive discovered a broader range of clinically relevant DNA mutations in CTCs than in ctDNA. Some mutations found in CTCs were not detected in ctDNA but were present in tumour tissue, which is significant for treatment options with FDA-approved drugs.
The peer-reviewe study examined BRAF and NRAS mutations, which are commonly screened in melanoma.
Differences were noted between mutations in CTCs and tissue samples, with more aggressive disease phenotypes associated with mutations found only in CTCs. This may reflect changes in the cancer between the time of tissue biopsy and blood sample collection.
The authors concluded that genomic analysis of CTCs could provide additional and complementary information on clinically relevant mutations compared to those found in tumour tissue and ctDNA.
They suggest that integrating a multi-analyte approach could advance personalized medicine in cancer care.
"The paper demonstrates the potential utility of CTCs enriched using the Parsortix system to provide genomic information additional to that provided by tumour tissue or ctDNA analysis," said Karen Miller, ANGLE's chief medical officer.
"It highlights how mutational analysis of CTCs, isolated using the Parsortix system, from patients with melanoma could, in the future, enable clinicians to make more informed decisions regarding their patient's treatment and care pathway."