UCLB News

Ovarian cancer blood tests breakthrough

6 May 2015

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A new screening method via a blood test for ovarian cancer has been found to detect twice as many cases as conventional methods.

The groundbreaking medical trial carried out over 14 years in the UK – the largest of its kind in the world for ovarian cancer screening – led by UCL involved more than 200,000 post-menopausal women aged 50 and over who were randomly assigned different screening strategies.

The study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, evaluated 46,237 women who continued to attend annual multimodal screening following the first screen. Their blood was tested once a year for CA125 levels and then a computer algorithm was used to interpret their risk of ovarian cancer based on factors including the woman’s age, the original levels of CA125 and how that level changed over time. The serial pattern was compared with known cases of cancer and controls to estimate the risk of having ovarian cancer.

To find out more read the full UCL article here and the Abcodia article here.

About UCLB
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology transfer company that supports and commercialises research and innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK’s top research-led universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong reputation for identifying and protecting promising new technologies and innovations from UCL academics. UCLB has a strong track record in commercialising medical technologies and provides technology transfer services to UCL’s associated hospitals; University College London Hospitals, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Free London Hospital. It invests directly in development projects to maximise the potential of the research and manages the commercialisation process of technologies from laboratory to market.

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About Abcodia
Abcodia is a specialist company engaged in the developing biomarkers for the early detection of cancer. The company has developed deep expertise in the methods and technology relevant to the discovery and validation of biomarkers that can be detected well before the symptomatic presentation of cancer. Through an exclusive commercial license to the UKCTOCS biobank, the company is able to use samples from this population cohort to develop a pipeline of diagnostic products for the early detection of a range of cancers.

For further information please see: www.abcodia.com