Toronto-based GeneNews Ltd. has announced that it has in-licensed two biomarker assays developed by the German company sphingotest—the sphingotest pro-NT and sphingotest pro-ENK—that aid physicians in identifying women at highest risk for breast cancer in the general population.
GeneNews expects to add sphingotest pro-NT to the menu of advanced cancer assays offered by its U.S. joint venture, Innovative Diagnostic Laboratory LLP, in early 2015. The company is also evaluating the potential expansion of IDL's testing menu in the area of breast cancer risk prediction through the addition of sphingotest pro-ENK and other biomarker candidates.
Sphingotest pro-NT is a simple blood test for the determination of proneurotensin (pro-NT). It detects the release of the satiety hormone neurotensin and is applicable to all women, regardless of genetic predispositions. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2012 demonstrated that the determination of proneurotensin levels offered a substantial advantage in prediction of breast cancer.
“It is exciting to see that inexpensive, blood-based protein biomarkers are now available for detecting women who are at high risk for breast cancer, even when the family history is completely negative,” comments Alan S. Maisel, MD, Professor of Medicine at University of California San Diego. Max S. Wicha, MD, Professor of Oncology and Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Care Center, adds, “Breast cancer risk prediction is a major advancement for science because it's one of the main ways we can detect and treat high-risk individuals appropriately; this could be the future of lowering the incidence of breast cancer.” Learn more about the sphingotest pro-NT.
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