Darmstadt, August 22nd 2022
- Study shows: PanTum Detect® detects patients with rhabdomyosarcoma
- In 96.5% of the rhabdomyosarcoma patients examined, the tumour markers TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) were significantly elevated.
- The results show that the PanTum Detect® blood test opens up new ways of diagnosing rhabdomyosarcoma.
Darmstadt, August 22nd 2022: Researchers from the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen have investigated whether the tumour markers TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) in children and adolescents with rhabdomyosarcoma differ from those of a healthy control group. (To the publication)
29 infants, children and adolescents aged 0 to 21 suffering from rhabdomyosarcoma took part in the study. The control group consisted of 27 healthy individuals. The PanTum Detect® blood test developed by Zyagnum AG was applied. This so-called biological biopsy, based on EDIM® technology, detects increased TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) concentrations in macrophages.
Significantly elevated TKTL1 and DNaseX (Apo10) levels were found in 28 of the 29 rhabdomyosarcoma patients. In the control group, this was not the case for any of the participants.
New diagnostics for the early detection of rhabdomyosarcoma
Rhabdomyosarcoma is a malignant cancer that affects muscle tissue. It is the most common soft tissue tumour in childhood. In advanced stages, only 25% of treated patients are cancer-free after three years. Rhabdomyosarcoma is currently diagnosed based on clinical signs, imaging techniques such as MRI, laboratory parameters and bone marrow aspiration.
The PanTum Detect® blood test is used to give the decisive indication of for which people imaging tumour diagnostics such as MRI and PET/CT should be applied.
“The sensitivity and specificity of the EDIM® blood test indicate that this new test could help improve the detection of paediatric RMS,” conclude the authors of the study.
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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%).