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Medical researchers with EDP Biotech Corporation (EDP) have captured national attention with their revolutionary new technology for a simple blood test to detect early stage colon cancer.
Following the success of its pre-clinical trials for the ColoMarker assay, EDP has filed a patent on the biomarker, CA11-19, and all aspects of its use. Via an inexpensive blood test, ColoMarker detects colon cancer in its earliest, most curable stages.
According to American Cancer Society statistics, fewer than 20 percent of Americans over the age of 50 who should be screened for colon cancer, actually are. With the use of ColoMarker, a simple and inexpensive blood test, the researchers expect the number of people being screened would likely increase dramatically, leading to a decline in deaths due to colon cancer.
In pre-clinical trials, ColoMarker successfully detected the early stages (I, II, and III) of colon cancer. In tests of 2,370 blood samples, ColoMarker showed an accuracy rate of better than 99 percent for detecting colon cancer in these early stages. "ColoMarker could lead to a radical shift in the way we detect colon cancer," adds Jones.
National researchers who study colorectal cancer are closely monitoring emerging technologies such as ColoMarker. Just last week, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries released an optimistic report about the expected decline in deaths from colon cancer due to anticipated improvements in early screening methods.
"The use of ColoMarker as a screening test could save tens of thousands of American lives every year and billions of dollars in healthcare costs," Jones insists.
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