Australian protein biomarker firm HealthLinx said this week it has completed a validation study assessing the potential prognostic value of an undisclosed protein biomarker for ovarian cancer.
According to the company, the marker was shown to be highly expressed in ovarian carcinoma tissue in patients with better clinical outcomes, with high expression associated with a 22 percent relapse rate compared to a 78 percent relapse rate in patients showing low expression.
Conducted at the Department of Anatomical Pathology at the Mater Health Services, Brisbane, the study used tissue microarrays from 200 patients comprising benign, malignant, and control samples. Expression of the marker was correlated with disease-free survival for up to 80 months.
The study "effectively positions the company to provide a vertical solution to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer with our OvPlex test and now potentially provide clinicians with an additional prognostic indicator with this novel biomarker," HealthLinx managing director Nick Gatsios said in a statement.
The company said it plans to disclose the marker and the research findings in a peer-reviewed publication "pending submission of new patent applications to cover the novel findings."