ANGLE PLC (AIM:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY), the liquid biopsy company listed in London, has reported that its Parsortix system has been central to three new pieces of research exploring how cancer spreads and how new treatments could target that process.
The Parsortix device is used to capture and analyse circulating tumour cells (CTCs), which are cancer cells that break away from tumours and enter the bloodstream.
Unlike standard blood tests that detect fragments of tumour DNA, this system isolates whole cells, allowing researchers to study gene activity and cell behaviour in greater detail.
The new studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, include evidence that cancer cells are released into the bloodstream during surgery for both prostate and ovarian cancers.
In one evaluation, researchers found substantial release of cells during prostate cancer surgery, raising fresh questions about whether surgical procedures might unintentionally contribute to the spread of disease.
Similar findings were reported in ovarian cancer, including in patients with early-stage disease.
Separate research from the Cleveland Clinic used Parsortix to investigate how breast cancer cells adapt to the stiffness of their environment, a factor linked to their ability to spread.
Scientists created a “mechanical conditioning score” based on gene expression in CTCs, which could help identify patients at higher risk of metastasis and inform the use of anti-fibrotic drugs.
ANGLE said the findings highlight how its platform is supporting academic and translational research into cancer biology, with the potential to feed into future drug development.
Chief scientific officer Karen Miller said: "We are proud to see ANGLE's technology increasingly being exploited to make novel discoveries into the biology of cancer, which may eventually result in new treatment strategies.
"With advancing analytical capabilities beginning to realise the vast potential of the circulating tumour cell for its wealth of multiomic information, this contribution to the oncology pipeline will continue to grow.
"We congratulate these key opinion leaders on their outstanding work, and we look forward to more exciting discoveries in the future."