Quest take ups Epigenomics' prostate cancer marker
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
German cancer molecular diagnostics company Epigenomics has licensed its proprietary prostate cancer biomarker, mGSTP1, to US diagnostic testing services provider Quest Diagnostics. Under the terms of the non-exclusive deal, Seattle, Washington-based Quest will be able to incorporate the biomarker in a molecular-based, lab-developed test and commercialise the product. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. The test will detect DNA methylation of the gene GSTP1 in tissue samples. When combined with conventional histopathology, it can help doctors diagnose more accurately prostate cancer. This could benefit cases where the patients have suspicious or inconclusive histology results, or where they have elevated levels of prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in their blood, but have negative biopsies.