BioCurex Presents New Format for Blood Test Detection of Cancer With Results Superior to PSA
RICHMOND, British Columbia, Oct. 25, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- BioCurex Inc. (OTCBB:BOCX) announced today that it has presented its first set of results using a colorimetric version of its RECAF(tm) blood test for cancer detection at the annual meeting of the International Society for Oncofetal Biology and Medicine in Pasadena, CA. The results exhibited that this colorimetric version of BioCurex's RECAF test detected more than twice the amount of cancers than the most widely used cancer detection test utilized today -- the PSA test.
BioCurex previously obtained excellent results with a radio-immunoassay format. An immunoassay takes advantage of the exquisite specificity of an antibody to detect one and only one substance -- in our case RECAF -- among the hundreds of different molecules in serum. A radio-immunoassay uses a radioisotope as a tag and since minute amounts of radioactivity can be measured with the appropriate equipment, the result is an assay that can detect trace amounts of an individual substance (RECAF) in the serum. Radio-immunoassays have now been successfully used for almost 50 years but the use of radioactivity and their short life-span due to radioactive decay has prompted the search for alternative way to detect the reaction (it should be noted that the amount of radioactivity used is minute, but its use as well as shipment is heavily regulated by government agencies).
Most high throughput automated systems -- such as the Abbott Architect(tm) -- use chemoluminescence which is based on a tag that emits light when it reacts with certain chemicals. By convention, tests that rely on light to measure the reaction are called "colorimetric assays." They offer advantages such as a longer shelf life, greater convenience and easier shipment.
The results referred herein were obtained with chemoluminescence and they represent a significant step forwards to implementing the RECAF test in the automated instruments supported by clinical laboratories.
On 68 prostate cancers (Stages I and II) the new format detected 71% of cancers with 87% specificity. Only 27% of these samples exhibited a PSA higher than 4 ng/ml (the value above which there is the suspicion of cancer). Therefore the PSA test would not have raised suspicion whereas the RECAF test was able to detect these early cancers.
On 28 miscellaneous cancers, which included more advanced stages, the sensitivity was 86% with 95% specificity.
Dr. Moro stated: "We are very happy with these results since this new format is directly compatible with many high throughput automated instruments used in large clinical laboratories. Many research laboratories also have chemoluminescence readers and therefore BioCurex can now ship demonstration kits to other scientists for further validation of our previous work, something not easy to do with a radioactivity based kit (due to shipping restrictions)."
Dr. Moro added: "This breakthrough brings us one step closer to the commercialization of our unique cancer test. We have more work to be done to optimize the assay for improved detection comparable to our radioimmunoassay results. We will need to test more samples before we are finished, and there are also other colorimetric formats that we want to implement as well. However, our active participation and collaboration with others to develop this new testing method is rewarding.
"We are particularly pleased with the development of this format since the know-how gained can be transmitted to all of our future licensees, and it worked well with early stages of prostate cancer. As a matter of fact, it detected more than twice the cancers that PSA would have detected."
About BioCurex:
BioCurex, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing products based on patented/proprietary technology in the areas of cancer diagnosis, imaging and therapy. The technology identifies a cancer marker known as RECAF(tm), which is found on malignant cells from a variety of cancer types but is absent in most normal or benign cells.
BioCurex has signed a licensing agreement with Abbott Laboratories for BioCurex's RECAF(tm) Cancer technology as outlined in a joint press release dated March 29, 2005. The release noted that the cancer marker RECAF(tm) has emerged as a potential biomarker that may be useful in the development of new cancer diagnostics tests. Preliminary studies from the investigators at BioCurex have reported a high level of clinical sensitivity and specificity for RECAF in many of the most common cancers, including prostate, breast, colorectal, lung and others.
To read more about the Company, please visit the News section in our web site (www.biocurex.com).
