Biopsy specialist ANGLE plc (LON: AGL) has pointed to new research from the University Medical Centre Hamburg Eppendorf in Germany after a publication in the peer-reviewed journal Cancers, demonstrated the ability of the Parsotix liquid biopsy system to harvest circulating tumour cells with a mesenchymal phenotype, which can be used to detect the metastatic biomarker cysteine-rich angiogenetic inducer 61 (Cyr61) in breast cancer patients.
ANGLE’s shares are up 7.18% following the news, priced at 94.8p following Wednesday’s close at 88.6p after a 4% fall.
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The UK-based firm said the Cyr61 protein is a potent regulator of many cellular functions essential in cancer development, potentially playing a role in tumour progression and the development of resistance to anti-cancer drugs including endocrine therapies.
The study showed that researchers found Cyr61 was overexpressed in 43% of circulating tumour cells isolated from 35 breast cancer patients. They were also able to demonstrate in breast cancer cell lines that the loss of Cyr61 reduced tumour cells’ viability by decreasing cancer cell proliferation and cell survival.
Therefore, ANGLE said Cyr61 might serve as a novel marker for CTCs and disseminated tumour cells similar to those found in the bone marrow and help identify cells with a more aggressive phenotype. Furthermore, Cyr61 could represent a target for the development of novel anti-metastatic drugs.
“Use of the Parsortix system in uncovering potential new therapeutic targets through its ability to harvest mesenchymal as well as epithelial CTCs for analysis provides yet further evidence of its advantages over other liquid biopsy approaches,” commented ANGLE founder and CEO, Andrew Newland.
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