RanplexCRC from Randox is a diagnostic test that can detect 28 polymorphisms associated with colorectal cancer in a single stool sample.
Bowel (colorectal) cancer is the second largest cause of cancer mortality in the western world, but up to 90 per cent curable if detected early.
Unfortunately, most patients show up with advanced disease, reducing their long-term survival.
National Screening programmes are being introduced throughout Europe to reduce CRC mortality using the Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) test.
This cheap and non-invasive test detects blood in stool samples, which may be an indication of a tumour.
Patients with a positive FOB test are then referred for a colonoscopy.
The FOB test, however, suffers from poor sensitivity, as not all tumours bleed (false negative test) and not all stool blood is derived from tumours (false positive test).
Many patients may therefore be sent for a colonoscopy unnecessarily.
A colonoscopy is invasive, involves dietary restrictions and requires the presence of a surgeon.
RanplexCRC is able to accurately profile patients and reduce the number of patients sent for colonoscopy, saving resources and reducing patient discomfort.
It does not require a hospital visit or dietary restrictions and has greater sensitivity than the FOB test.
Most sporadic colorectal cancers follow a well-recognised progression from normal cells through adenoma (abnormal glandular growths) to cancer, driven by mutations in a small number of genes.
RanplexCRC can simultaneously detect 28 mutations from four key genes in cancer or pre-cancer cells shed into the bowel.
Selected mutations present in APC, KRAS, BRAF and Tp53, along with wild-type control sequences, are represented on two biochips detected using Randox's Biochip array analysers.
The Randox range of Biochip array analysers are immunoassay testing platforms that work by combining panels of related tests on a single biochip.
The chemiluminescent endpoint is detected by a CCD-camera and quantified by a custom image-processing software.
Evidence, a fully automated analyser for high-throughput laboratories, and the Evidence Investigator, a semi-automated analyser for low-throughput laboratories and research purposes, are also available from Randox.
