Circulating Microvesicle-Based Assay Is Potential Prostate Cancer Diagnostic

A circulating microvesicle ("cMV")-based test is a potentially powerful diagnostic tool for detecting prostate cancer.

cMVs are sub-cellular membrane-bound vesicles, ranging from 30 nm to 1,500 nm in size, that are found circulating in the blood and other body fluids. They are released from various cell types under both normal and pathologic conditions, including cancer. Each population of cMV expresses an array of proteins which reflects its cell-of-origin.

Carisome Technology is a versatile blood-based, highly reproducible testing technology. The technology platform identifies and characterizes cMVs, creating disease-specific, cMV-based biosignatures, which can be made up of a combination of biomarkers. The unique cMV biosignature can then be used for the diagnosis, prognosis, and measurement of therapeutic response.

The assay that enables the isolation, capture, and characterization of cMVs specific to prostate cancer was developed by Caris Life Sciences (Dallas, TX, USA). It has potential to deliver more accurate diagnoses for men with prostate cancer than current methods.

A poster highlighting the potential of the circulating microvesicle (cMV)-based prostate cancer test was presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) 2011 Annual Meeting, which was held in Washington DC (USA) from May 14-19, 2011.

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