Blood Test Detects Early and Later-Stage Colorectal Cancers

Despite the existence of screening programs for the disease, colorectal cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the USA, partly due to the cost, and to low compliance with colonoscopies and other screening methods such as fecal tests.

Colorectal cancer is often found after symptoms appear, which typically only happens with more advanced disease, however, colorectal cancer is one of the more survivable diseases if caught early with a five-year survival rate of 74% in stage I, but only 6% in stage IV.


Doctors at Hvidovre Hospital (Copenhagen, Denmark) collected samples from a blinded 938-subject study were colorectal cancer (CRC) versus no findings on colonoscopy and no comorbidities from a 4,800 symptomatic-subject study. The subjects had one of the following colorectal cancer, polyps or adenomas, benign bowel diseases or other malignancies, all of whom had undergone a colonoscopy from 2010 to 2012, were over 50 years of age and were age- and gender-adjusted.

The investigators used the NuQ test (VolitionRx; Namur, Belgium) to meet their aims of detecting colorectal cancer through a simple, accurate, cost-effective, blood test. Analysis of the 938-subject sample of the study demonstrated that the NuQ diagnostic test detected 84% of colorectal cancers at 78% specificity, and 60% of polyps, in a population with symptoms indicative of colorectal cancer. The NuQ test used to achieve these results was a panel of three individual NuQ assays, each of which identifies and measures a separate nucleosome structure in the blood. The data showed that the NuQ test is able to detect early stage I or II disease and late-stage III or IV disease with similar accuracy, allowing for earlier detection and treatment of colorectal cancer and enabling the potential for improved patient outcomes.

Jake Micallef, PhD, MBA, Chief Scientific Officer of VolitionRx, said, “VolitionRx has shown similar results previously in smaller colorectal cancer studies but confirmation that NuQ tests are effective in a large, blind study is a landmark result for us. Moreover, the Nucleosomics technology is not limited to the three assays used in this study, but incorporates hundreds of potential epigenetic NuQ tests that may have applicability in colorectal and other cancers.” The study was presented at the Aegis Capital Healthcare & Technology Conference held September 10–14, 2014, in Las Vegas (NV, USA).

Related Links:
Hvidovre Hospital 
VolitionRx