A New Canadian Company is Detecting Cancer Earlier Than Ever Before

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 21, 2019 /CNW/ -- To most people, liquid biopsy is a new technology - using a simple blood sample to check for cancer cells in the body, instead of an invasive and expensive tumor biopsy. However, a Canada-based precision oncology company, CTOAM (Cancer Treatment Options and Management Inc.), has been using liquid biopsies with cancer patients for over four years.

And now, after significant investment in research and development, CTOAM is launching a new biotech company: Liquid Biopsy Labs (LBL). LBL provides cancer patients and clinics with access to a new patent-pending technology that produces more accurate results than any other commercial liquid biopsy test on the market. Standard liquid biopsies measure DNA from blood, but they do not identify the source of this DNA: It may be from dead cancer cells (due to treatment); live cancer cells traveling via blood (metastasis); normal cells; or extracellular vesicles such as exosomes. In other words, standard liquid biopsies cannot tell if a treatment is working because the source of the DNA is not specified by the test.

Alexander Rolland, chief science officer and co-founder of Liquid Biopsy Labs, says: "Our research team has discovered a way to isolate and quantify tumor DNA from blood that is specifically involved in the process of metastasis, giving us crucial information about how well a patient's cancer treatment is working or not. Cancer patients don't have time to waste on treatments that don't work. Knowing if a treatment is actually working in real time not only saves time and money but can be the difference between life and death."

LBL's novel liquid biopsy test can be used for a variety of clinical applications, including:

• Determining the likelihood that a patient would benefit from immunotherapy
• The identification of inherited mutations that may be clinically relevant
• Understanding which mutations are driving the growth of the cancer cells
• The detection of recurrent cancer cells, at the earliest stage possible

"Our new test is 99-plus percent accurate. And, it can show signs of cancer many months - even years! - before a tumor would be visible with traditional imaging tools ... even advanced ones like PET/CT," explains Michelle Morand, Liquid Biopsy Labs co-founder and managing partner.

Liquid biopsies are already being used by top cancer clinics around the world, such as Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. And many cancer patients are benefiting from the ease and affordability of getting a blood draw in lieu of a full tumor biopsy. "LBL's liquid biopsy test represents a new milestone in cancer diagnostics - one that will have immediate and significant effects on patient well-being and outcome," affirms Morand.

Cancer clinics around the globe have already taken notice of Liquid Biopsy Labs' new approach, with client and clinic referrals from the U.S., Asia and Europe.

To learn more about liquid biopsy for cancer treatment monitoring and screening or for more information on Liquid Biopsy Labs (LBL), visit www.liquidbiopsylabs.com or contact [email protected].

Related Images

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Blood Tube with DNA

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Blood Tubes with DNA inside

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Lab with Blood Tubes

blood-tubes-in-spinner.jpg
Blood Tubes in Spinner

Related Links

Liquid Biopsy Labs

CTOAM

SOURCE Cancer Treatment Options and Management