June 03, 2001
Eichrom Technologies, Inc. has initiated a multi-site sample acquisition study in anticipation of a clinical trial to validate the use of BLCA-4 in the diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer. 12 sites around the country are involved in the recruitment of patients for the trial. Samples from individuals with symptoms of bladder cancer, participants with other active cancers and healthy participants are being collected.

Developed by Dr. Robert Getzenberg at the University of Pittsburgh, the BLCA-4 marker has been shown to exhibit remarkable specificity and sensitivity for bladder cancer. This marker has been identified to be bladder cancer tissue specific as it is not found in other types of cancers such as prostate, breast, kidney or cervical. In an initial study of 55 patients with histologically proven bladder cancer and 51 normal individuals, BLCA-4 was found to be 96.4% sensitive and 100% specific for distinguishing patients with bladder cancer from those without the disease. A test is being developed to detect BLCA-4 in the urine of individuals presenting themselves with symptoms suggestive of bladder cancer.

It is well established that early diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer significantly improves a patient’s long-term survival potential. Eichrom is developing both an ELISA-based quantitative assay and a qualitative one-step rapid test using the quality biomarker (BLCA-4) for the early detection of bladder cancer.

Eichrom Technologies, Inc. is a life science and biotechnology development company headquartered in Darien, IL.