New Developments in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

New Developments in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

New York, NY -- Cancer is among the most frightening words in the English language.

Fortunately, the future is bright with exciting developments that will improve cancer therapy and permit early diagnosis and treatment.

Eleftherios P. Diamandis, MD, PhD, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada will discuss the latest advances in cancer testing at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's (AACC's) "Lab 2005" conference, being held at the Marriott Marquis, New York, N.Y. on March 21-22.

One of the great strides made in the research laboratory is that, today, we are able to select the most effective therapy for certain cancers, thanks to the discovery of markers. Markers are tests that are very sensitive and specific for a particular type of disease.

For women, one of the best examples of markers is HER2-neu for breast cancer. HER2-neu can help to determine those women who will respond to therapy, and allow for better monitoring and evaluating of treatment plans.

For men, studies show that PSA assays for prostate cancer can be enhanced by adding other markers, such as complexed PSA and human kallikreins to "sharpen" the diagnostic capabilities of PSA. These new tests are useful in establishing how aggressive the prostate cancer is and thus, point the way to the best form of treatment.

What can we expect of cancer testing in the future? One of the most exciting and promising areas of cancer testing is gene analysis. Using advanced technology thousands of genes can be evaluated at one time. Although, this technology can reveal the risk of developing cancer, it still cannot diagnose the cancer. But, learning of a risk can possibly avert occurrence and certainly, allow for monitoring a patient closely so cancer can be detected at the earliest moment.

Dr. Diamandis will be discussing these and other emerging cancer tests and how they will lead to more individualized treatment, cancer prevention and accurate assessment of risk of disease.

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Founded in 1948, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) is the world's most prestigious professional association for clinical laboratorians, clinical and molecular pathologists, and others in related fields. Clinical laboratorians are specialists trained in all areas of human laboratory testing, including infectious and genetic diseases, DNA and the presence of tumor markers. The primary professional commitment of clinical laboratorians is the effective understanding and use of laboratory tests in order to detect, monitor and treat human diseases.

Editor's note: To set up an interview with Dr. Diamandis, please contact Scott Pasch at 202-835-8718 or [email protected].