Volition confirms new collaboration with Wales Cancer Bank

Volition has announced a new collaboration with the Wales Cancer Bank, with the two businesses set to carry out an internal clinical study for the Nucleosomics diagnostic products.

At the end of this month, tests will be carried out on blood samples taken from over 800 cancer patients by the Wales Cancer Bank as well as healthy control volunteers.

It is expected that around 550 of these will be breast cancer patients with a variety of subtypes, such as invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular and tubular carcinomas, and in-situ carcinoma ductal.

In addition, 230 of the participants will be colorectal cancer patients, including subtypes at states ranging from Stage A to Stage D.

Smaller numbers of patients will also take part who have lung and pancreatic cancers.

The research comes after a successful pilot study on 100 patient samples from the Wales Cancer Bank. After this work, Volition was given scientific approval from the Bank to press ahead and collect the patients required for a full scale clinical trial.

Jake Micallef, Chief Scientific Officer of VolitionRx, said: "These larger studies follow successful completion of our own internal pilot studies. This is the next step in obtaining European market approval for Nucleosomics diagnostic tests (beginning with the patient numbers needed for breast and colorectal cancer), and establishing them in routine clinical use."

Professor Malcolm Mason, director of the Wales Cancer Biobank, also commented on the project, explaining: "We are delighted to be providing patient blood samples for Volition’s cancer trial. Their technology shows promise and we were very happy with their initial results in the pilot study carried out in 2012.

"We look forward to seeing the results from this larger trial."

As well as the trial of its Nucleosomics products, Volition is also carrying out four other trials.

Three of these multi-cancer trials are currently underway at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany, while a study into colorectal cancer is taking place at CHU-UCL Mont-Godinne Hospital in Belgium.

Posted by Fiona Griffiths