ANGLE PLC (AIM:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY) said its liquid biopsy system could offer an alternative to traditional tissue biopsy to assess the spread and mutation of metastatic breast cancer.
The company described research by the University of Southern California Norris Cancer Center that compared the two approaches as ‘ground-breaking’.
Not only did they find a ‘concordance’, or consistency between blood and tissue samples taken from patients when analysed, the scientists were also able to glean additional crucial detail from circulating tumour cells harvested using ANGLE’s Parsortix system.
Specifically, Parsortix enabled longitudinal analysis of the cancer cells as they metastasised (spread from the original site) and mutated. Dr Julie Lang and her team at USC were even able to detect the changes that lead to resistance to anti-cancer therapies.
This is important as it could help optimise the treatment given to women with metastatic breast cancer.
Only 50% of people with the advanced form of the disease have successful tissue biopsies as they are either too ill to undergo the invasive procedure or the tissue site is inaccessible.
“A simple, repeatable liquid biopsy alternative using the Parsortix system could resolve the issues with metastatic tissue biopsies and, as the study finds, provide real-time information on the cancer evolution to guide treatment options,” the statement said.
Mid-morning, the shares were trading 3.4% higher at 125.05p each.
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