ANGLE PLC (AIM:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY) has unveiled new research demonstrating how its Parsortix liquid biopsy system, combined with next-generation sequencing, can uncover genetic differences missed by standard blood-based tests in lung cancer patients.
Presented today at the European Association for Cancer Research congress in Lisbon, the study highlights the benefits of analysing DNA from both circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and cell-free tumour DNA (ctDNA) extracted from the same blood sample.
ANGLE said the findings offer a more comprehensive view of tumour genetics, potentially improving the precision of cancer treatment.
The study, developed in collaboration with US sequencing giant Illumina, involved both laboratory-controlled and real-world samples. In the second phase, blood from 27 lung cancer patients was tested using a 79-gene panel.
More than half of the mutations were detected in CTC-DNA alone, while just over a third were exclusive to ctDNA. Only a small portion of mutations appeared in both.
Notably, several actionable mutations, those linked to existing targeted treatments, were found only in the CTC-DNA. These included changes in genes such as CHEK2, ESR1, NTRK1, and RET, associated with therapies from AstraZeneca, Roche, Pfizer, and others.
ANGLE said its dual analysis approach could offer drug developers better tools for identifying resistance mechanisms and selecting the right patients for clinical trials, while also reducing reliance on invasive tissue biopsies.
Chief scientific officer Karen Miller said: "This study demonstrates the unique value of ANGLE's DNA dual analysis approach, which combines sequencing of CTC-DNA and ctDNA from the same blood sample to uncover critical differences in tumour biology."