Epigenomics, a cancer molecular diagnostics company, is set to introduce a lung cancer test at the ongoing 29th German Cancer Congress in Berlin, Germany. The Epi proLung BL Reflex Assay, the company’s second in vitro diagnostic product, is expected to be launched as a CE-marked diagnostic test kit in Europe in the second quarter of 2010.
Epigenomics’ diagnostic test is being developed as an aid in diagnosis for lung cancer and may help pathologists to confirm the diagnosis of malignant lung disease when current diagnostic procedures fail to establish the presence of malignancy in patients with suspected lung cancer.
The test determines the DNA methylation status of the mSHOX2 gene in bronchial lavage material routinely obtained during the clinical workup of patients with suspected lung cancer, due to symptoms or accidental imaging findings. Increased DNA methylation of the SHOX2 gene indicates the presence of malignant lung disease.
The molecular diagnostic test providing additional information to the physician and confirming the presence of lung cancer from bronchial lavage fluid could help to funnel patients with malignant lung disease into accelerated clinical staging and therapy, avoiding delay and potentially reducing costs.
Dr Bernd Schmidt, head of the department of pneumology at the University Hospital Halle in Germany, who collaborated with Epigenomics in the development of the test, will introduce the mSHOX2 biomarker and its clinical utility in an oral presentation at the German Cancer Congress.