Blood test by Britain's Angle detects ovarian cancer in study

[July 05, 2017] LONDON (Reuters) - British liquid biopsy company Angle said its Parsortix blood test had beaten current methods in identifying ovarian cancer, a breakthough that could help women receive the best possible outcome from surgery.

Headline results from a study of 400 patients in Europe and the United States showed the test to detect cancerous cells in the bloodstream correctly identified cancer in up to 95 percent of cases, the company said.

The test will enable women with ovarian cancer to be referred to gynaecological surgeons who specialize in the care of women with ovarian cancer, while patients with a benign tumor will not have to travel to specialist centers.

Angle founder and chief executive Andrew Newland said the study had demonstrated the ability to correctly detect cancer, and importantly correctly detect the absence of cancer.

The test was nearly twice as successful in eliminating false-positives than current tests, he said.

It also had the potential to identify targets on the tumor that could be used to inform treatment strategies, he said.

"The vision is that a woman who has been diagnosed with having an abnormal pelvic mass will have a simple blood test and from that we will deduce whether or not she has cancer and if she does which drug would be most suitable for her," he said.

The performance of the test would now be validated in another study designed to meet European CE Mark and US FDA regulatory requirements, he said.

Shares in Angle, which has a market cap of about 50 million pounds, rose 2.2 percent to 68 pence.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, editing by Louise Heavens)

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