CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
April 20, 2018—Qiagen launched two liquid biopsy panels to evaluate circulating tumor cells in prostate and lung cancers. The AdnaTest ProstateCancerPanel AR-V7 Kit and AdnaTest LungCancer Kit were introduced at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, April 14–18, in Chicago.
The AdnaTest ProstateCancerPanel AR-V7 Kit detects the androgen receptor splice variant 7 in CTCs of prostate tumor origin isolated from blood samples to investigate potential resistance to drugs for advanced prostate cancer. Qiagen is launching the test for research use with an exclusive license from Johns Hopkins University for nucleic acid detection of the AR-V7 biomarker for diagnostic use.
The AdnaTest LungCancer Kit delivers insights into the molecular mechanisms of lung cancer through highly specific selection of CTCs, including stem cell-like cells implicated in cancer growth and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. A proprietary set of antibodies provides sensitive detection of lung cancer-associated targets through reverse-transcriptase PCR. The open system ensures flexibility for users to add the targets of interest.
“The ability to analyze circulating tumor cells offers potential to expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of lung and prostate cancer and advance new approaches to treatment. With the high specificity and sensitivity of the AdnaTest kits, researchers can use liquid biopsies to achieve reliable, accurate characterization of lung and prostate cancer CTCs for interpretation of disease development and metastasis,” Michael Kazinski, senior director and head of Sample Technologies, Qiagen, said in a statement.