Childhood Cancer Panel

AltheaDx’s first commercial test, scheduled for release in 2008, is an exclusive panel targeting Childhood Cancer, a particularly challenging segment of the oncology market.

• Differentiates four categories of small, round, blue-cell tumors (SRBCT)
• Exclusively licensed panel of genetic markers from National Institutes of Health
• Provides pathologists with additional confirmation of cancer type
• Provides pediatric oncologists more information for better treatment options, potentially improving therapeutic outcome
• AltheaDx will be exclusively offering the SRBCT-XP Childhood Cancer test in CLIA-certified labs beginning in 2009
  

Solid tumor cancers afflict around 3000 children in the U.S. each year, with the most common forms of solid tumor cancers being neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma.  Treatment of each of these forms of cancer employs very different therapeutic strategies.  Unfortunately, these tumor types are difficult to differentiate.  Identified as small, round, blue-cell tumors (SRBCTs) because of how they look under a microscope, these cancers often require a variety of different pathological and molecular tests to clearly diagnose the disease type.  Even so, 5 to 10% of the cases are still ambiguous in their determination.  

Working in collaboration with Dr. Javed Khan at the National Cancer Institute, AltheaDx has developed the AltheaDx SRBCT test.  The test is a multiplexed gene expression analysis, that can be used to quickly triage these tumor samples, and provide guidance on which of the many pathological and molecular tests are needed to confirm diagnosis.  Licensed exclusively to AltheaDx, the test itself is highly accurate in differentiating neuroblastomas, rhabdomyosarcomas and Ewing’s sarcomas from each other.  

In 2009 AltheaDx will begin to offer this test within its CLIA certified lab and is seeking FDA clearance.

For a publication on the AltheaDx SRBCT panel, click here.

Small Round Blue Cell Tumor cells
SRBCT