VolitionRx (NYSE:VNRX) has reported more high cancer detection rates from its NuQ blood tests, this time in a study of lung cancer sufferers.
The nucleosome-based tests accurately detected more than 90% of lung cancer cases in a study of 73 patients, Volition said.
The clinical study was part of an ongoing larger prospective study of 240 subjects conducted with the Liege University Hospital in Belgium.
When combined with details of smoking history, a panel of four NuQ biomarker assays detected 93% of lung cancer cases (27 of 29), with 91% specificity or two false positive results among 22 healthy subjects..
Lung cancer is the second most common form and smoking history is the most important of the known and proven risk factors.
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer represents about 80% of those detected and symptoms usually do not appear until the disease is already in an advanced stage.
Professor Renaud Louis, Head of the Pneumology Department at the hospital said: "These data show that lung cancer is detected by a NuQblood test and confirm the findings of our previous pilot study.
Jake Micallef, VolitionRx’s chief scientific officer added: "The NuQ blood test not only differentiates lung cancer from healthy subjects but also from the common lung disease, COPD, which is related to tobacco consumption.
"Our interim data are exciting because they show both high sensitivity and very few false positives."
The lung cancer results follow similar encouraging detection rates for detection of pancreatic cancer in a study at the Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark and Lund hospital in Sweden. These returned detection rates of 95% and 92% respectively.
The Hvidore result was part of a much larger study into colorectal cancer where detection rates were 81% at 78% specificity both for early and late stage sufferers.
Cameron Reynolds, chief executive, added: "To be detecting more than 90% of cancers in this blinded trial is extremely exciting.
"VolitionRx's studies in colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer and now lung cancer have consistently shown that our Nucleosomics technology accurately detects cancers and is able to correctly distinguish among different diseases with a simple blood test.
“Using only a drop of blood, our NuQ tests aim to be affordable, patient friendly, and to be as easy to use as they are simple to perform on existing hospital laboratory instruments."
Full results of the ongoing lung cancer study will be available in 2016, as well as the results of another 600-subject lung cancer study at the University of Bonn in Germany.
VolitionRx also has studies underway for prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and Endometriosis.
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