Is Earlier Detection of Cancers Such as Glioma Possible?

Oncolab, Inc.'s AMAS® Test is a commercially available blood test that may allow early detection of a wide range of human cancers. It detects a circulating, cancer-specific antibody, the Anti-malignin antibody, in human serum. Oncolab has been granted additional patent claims covering advances in its antibody and antigen detection techniques, as well as potential vaccine applications of the technology.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 21, 2008 -- Oncolab, Inc.'s AMAS® Test is a commercially available blood test that may allow early detection of a wide range of human cancers. It detects a circulating, cancer-specific antibody, the Anti-malignin antibody, in human serum. Anti-malignin is a normal antibody in humans which has been found to increase with age, as the risk of cancer increases. During the early stages of cancer, Anti-malignin antibody increases markedly in concentration.

Determining the concentration of this antibody is the basis for the AMAS Test for early detection of cancer. This test was first used to aid in the diagnosis of brain cancer, and was then found to be applicable to other common cancers because the glioma peptide contains a structural characteristic which is shared by other malignant cells.

After early detection of cancers with the aid of the AMAS Test, additional diagnostic techniques can be employed to establish a diagnosis, and surgery or other standard therapeutic techniques can be employed to treat the malignancy. Oncolab, Inc., the company which has developed the AMAS Test, was recently granted additional patent claims covering advances in its antibody and antigen detection techniques, as well as potential vaccine applications of the technology.

###

http://www.oncolabinc.com/

Oncolab Outlines Applications for AMAS Antibody Test for Cancer as a Chronic Disease at NAAS Conference in San Antonio

San Antonio, TX (PRWeb) May 3, 2007 -- At the NAAS annual conference, Oncolab presented the AMAS antibody-based test for cancer and described aspects of the current healthcare environment which make the test so important. The presentation emphasized the impact that the AMAS test can have on early detection and effective treatment of recurrences or first occurrences of cancer. A preventative approach to cancer, coupling the AMAS test with powerful new imaging and diagnostic techniques that are now increasingly in use, should be a powerful driver to help contain and reduce healthcare costs.

The AMAS test, a diagnostic test which tests for circulating levels of a specific antibody, provides a unique tool for monitoring cancer patients in remission. The antibodies bind specifically to a 10,000 molecular weight protein found in a wide range of cancers. Because it monitors an aspect of the body's immune response to cancer, rather than cancer antigens or cancer cells in the bloodstream, the AMAS test is especially accurate early in the recurrence or first occurrence of cancer, when clinical signs of the disease may not be evident or may just be emerging.

Patients in remission after successful cancer therapy, or a healthy normal population, generally have normal circulating levels of the antibody assayed in the test. AMAS's low false positive rate, shown to be 5% in double-blind clinical studies, means that elevated results on the test are highly suspicious for a recurrence or unrelated new occurrence of cancer, and warrant further clinical investigation. While the AMAS test is not generally useful in advanced cancer, its high sensitivity and specificity early in the disease allow it to be used to improve early detection of first occurrence and recurrence of the disease.

The emergence of new imaging techniques such as MRI and CT scans provides a powerful complement to the AMAS test's ability to flag early cancer occurrence and recurrence. With these tools, which are now becoming affordable and widely used, it is often possible to find small malignancies, leading to early and effective clinical treatment. Survival rates for cancers found early are generally much better than for those found later in the disease, and death rates, treatment costs, and productivity losses can be minimized.

Information and Kits
Please contact us if you have any questions about the test. We can provide you with a free kit that includes a requsition form to be signed by your doctor, all materials needed to prepare a sample for shipment, and a packet of reprints of scientific articles about the test.