NEW YORK – Cancer Research Horizons, a translational subsidiary of Cancer Research UK, announced Monday that it has awarded £230,000 ($302,582) to researchers at the University of Birmingham to develop a prototype assay for monitoring people at risk of developing multiple myeloma.
The test is intended for people with a precursor condition of myeloma called monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS), who require blood testing as frequently as every three months due to a 1 percent chance each year of progressing to myeloma.
Monitoring currently requires patients to visit general practice or hospital clinics for a blood sample, which is then sent to a clinical laboratory for testing, and this process places a burden on the NHS and patients, the University of Birmingham noted in a statement.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham's Clinical Immunology Services will monitor the level of monoclonal proteins produced by abnormal bone marrow cells, as increases could lead to identifying myeloma earlier.
The prototype will undergo an initial clinical pilot in collaboration with researchers at University Hospitals Birmingham later this year.