Biotechnology News In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Ovarian cancer test study: Four-analyte blood test developed by researchers at the Nevada Cancer Institute and Yale University School of Medicine requires "further improvement" before it is to be recommended for population screening of ovarian cancer, they note in the May 10 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The assay demonstrated 95% sensitivity and 95% specificity in a blinded cross-validation study involving 106 healthy females and 100 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Nevertheless, the study authors cite 99.6% as a desirable threshold for specificity. They advise that "other proteins previously implicated in EOC discrimination" might enhance the assay, which could be offered to high-risk patients. Follow-up evaluations such as transvaginal ultrasound then could be conducted in patients who test positive twice, the researchers note. The test used ELISA and microarray screening analysis, performed by Qiagen...