In the United States, EOC is the fourth most common cancer in women, and the leading cause of gynecologic cancer death. EOC affects approximately 25,000 women each year, and more than 16,000 will die from the disease.
The Yale technology for EOC is based on a collection of known serum proteins associated with cancer biology. Each protein marker is analyzed using a routine ELISA assay, and the results evaluated using a score system.
Research, led by Gil Mor, MD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale, was published on the technology in 2005. Statistical analyses on preliminary sample sets of a population of 206 women, including 24 patients with early stage (I/II) EOC and 76 with later stage (III/IV) EOC, showed a higher sensitivity and specificity than currently available tests, as well as a positive predictive value. Yale expects to conduct additional clinical studies on the test technology prior to its commercial introduction by LabCorp.
"Ovarian cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to detect, especially in the earliest stages when it is more treatable," said Myla P. Lai-Goldman, M.D., Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Director of LabCorp. "LabCorp continues to dedicate resources to identifying and commercializing tests to help discriminate earlier between disease-free and cancer patients."
More information about LabCorp is available online at http://www.LabCorp.com. The Yale University Office of Cooperative Research (YU-OCR) manages the intellectual assets created at Yale. Information on licensing agreements is available through ocr@yale.edu or at http://www.yale.edu/ocr/ online
Citation: Proc Natl Acad Sciences, 102(21) May 24, 2005.