NEW YORK – Canhelp Genomics on Monday said it is collaborating with Mirxes Singapore to provide solid tumor origin identification testing services in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Canhelp, which is headquartered in Hangzhou, China, will provide its Canhelp-Origin gene expression test to Mirxes to deliver tumor origin testing services for patients with metastatic solid tumors using tissue slides. M Diagnostics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirxes in Singapore, will carry out the testing operations. The test is approved by the China National Medical Products Administration and has a European Union CE mark for human tumor origin classification. Canhelp is also seeking partnerships to help secure regulatory approval in the US and other countries.
Canhelp-Origin distinguishes 21 solid tumor types by measuring messenger RNA expression patterns of 90 tumor-specific genes from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples using the Thermo Fisher ABI-7500 real-time PCR system. In a multicenter validation study, the test had 94.4 percent accuracy and 99 percent specificity.
Cancers of unknown origin (CUP), or occult cancers, account for about 2 percent to 9 percent of tumors. Patients with CUP have a poor prognosis, with median survival of six months to nine months.