Darmstadt, August 19th 2022
- PanTum Detect® blood test is able to distinguish between children and adolescents with neuroblastoma and healthy ones
- 94.7% of the neuroblastoma patients tested showed significantly elevated levels of TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10).
- The results suggest that the PanTum Detect® could be applied as a non-invasive method for the detection of neuroblastoma and also for therapy monitoring.
Darmstadt, August 19th 2022: In a study published by the British Journal of Cancer, scientists from Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen investigated whether the tumour markers TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) can differentiate between children and adolescents with neuroblastoma and those in a healthy population.
Thirty-eight children and adolescents aged 0 to 21 years suffering from neuroblastoma took part in the study. The control group consisted of 37 healthy children. The PanTum Detect® blood test developed by Zyagnum AG was applied. This so-called immunological biopsy, based on EDIM® technology, detects increased TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) concentration in macrophages.
Significantly increased TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) were measured in 36 of the 38 neuroblastoma patients. In the control group, this was not the case in any of the participants.
New diagnostics for the early detection of neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a cancer that affects the nervous system and is one of the most common types of malignant tumours in children. The 5-year survival rate in the high-risk group is less than 50%. Neuroblastoma is currently diagnosed based on clinical signs, imaging techniques such as MRI, laboratory parameters and bone marrow aspiration.
Such a new and non-invasive way of diagnosis as the PanTum Detect® offers advantages over established methods. Because although new therapies are being developed, according to the study, there is a need for optimisation in the monitoring of recurrence throughout the therapy. At the moment, MRI and CT are used for this purpose, but especially in younger children, the radiation exposure associated with this is compounded by the stress caused by the anaesthesia that is usually required. The study authors conclude: “The […] blood test may therefore be a new, non-invasive diagnostic tool for treatment planning, risk stratification and identification of follow-up markers in paediatric solid tumours”.
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Anette Ludwig
Zyagnum AG
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E-mail: presse@zyagnum.de
Titus Kroder
SCRIPT Consult GmbH
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E-mail: zyagnum@scriptconsult.de
The study publication in the English original can be found here.
About Zyagnum: The Darmstadt-based biotechnology company Zyagnum AG develops diagnostic solutions for human medicine. Zyagnum has a profound understanding of immunological processes and their connection with diseases. For example, the EDIM® technology developed by Zyagnum can be used in blood tests to detect specific antigens in immune cells that may play a role in tumour development. Today, the company employs more than 40 people and was founded by Zyagnum CEO Ralf Schierl together with Johannes Coy in 2007.
Website: https://www.zyagnum.com/
About EDIM®: When the human organism derails and runs towards disease, the immune system is often the first to recognise this, often before any symptoms. The platform technology we have developed, EDIM® (Epitope Detection in Monocytes), uses the mechanisms of the immune system to detect such derailments. The EDIM® technology examines macrophages for antigens that have previously been taken up into the cell interior by these immune cells through phagocytosis – this is why we also call EDIM® an immunological biopsy.
About PanTum Detect®: The PanTum Detect® is based on EDIM® technology and detects the enzymes TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) in macrophages. A large-scale study at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf was able to show that the PanTum Detect® can provide the decisive indication as to which people without typical symptoms and suspected cancer in a healthy screening benefit from further examination by imaging procedures. In the case of the 2022 study, an indication of a previously undetected cancer or precancerous lesion was provided for 124 subjects out of over 5,000 study participants – in the study alone for 29 different tumor entities (Positive Predictive Value: 82%).