VolitionRx Limited, a life sciences company focused on developing blood-based diagnostic tests for different types of cancer, has announced that preliminary data from University Hospital Bonn, Germany, has been published online in the leading peer-reviewed journal, Anticancer Research. The data, first presented at CNAPS (Circulating Nucleic Acids in Plasma and Serum) congress last year, shows VolitionRx's single proprietary NuQ®-5mc assay detects 75% of colorectal cancers with 70% specificity. Since then, VolitionRx has achieved even better detection rates by combining its assays. The full article, "Novel Serum Nucleosomics Biomarkers for the Detection of Colorectal Cancer" is available on VolitionRx's website or at Anticancer Research's website.

The independent trial at University Hospital Bonn was coordinated by Dr. Stefan Holdenrieder at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Clinical Pharmacology. Using VolitionRx's NuQ® assay, his team tested 90 patient samples and found significantly lower levels of nucleosomes containing methylated DNA in the blood of patients with colorectal cancer compared to healthy samples, and later validated the results in a second set of 113 people.

Last year, VolitionRx proved that it could further improve detection rates by searching for more than one nucleosome biomarker and effectively creating a 'panel' test. Using samples from CHU Dinant Godinne/UCL Namur Hospital in Belgium, the team detected 85% of colorectal cancer with 85% specificity when combining two NuQ assays.

"It is encouraging to see data supporting the use of our blood tests for the detection of colorectal cancer being published for the very first time; it is a pivotal moment for us. Dr. Holdenrieder's study was the first to acknowledge the potential of our NuQ tests," said Jake Micallef, Chief Scientific Officer of VolitionRx. "It's promising that similar results have been found independently from our own trials as we look to bring the test to market."

Dr. Holdenrieder comments, "We are very excited to have our study published in such a prestigious journal. Since this study, we have seen more and more data confirming our findings and I am eager to ensure that this bank of research continues to grow so that patients can gain access to this rapid diagnostic tool as soon as possible. As such, I recently agreed to lead a performance evaluation study for VolitionRx's CE mark application process."

Other clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of VolitionRx's assays include:

  • A 4,800 patient retrospective study and an 11,000 patient prospective study into colorectal cancer at Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • A 4,000 patient prospective study that involves patients with the 20 most prevalent cancers at University Hospital in Bonn, Germany
  • A 250 patient study into colorectal cancer at CHU-UCL Mont Godinne Hospital, Belgium.