Roche Launches Thyroid and Lung Cancer Marker Assays

Three automated assays, that will allow laboratories to provide clinicians with information to aid the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer patients, have been added to the extensive Roche assay menu.

As part of its portfolio for the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with thyroid cancer, the next generation Roche Elecsys® Tg II automated assay offers improved sensitivity and precision. Thyroglobulin (Tg) testing is used in post operative follow up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). After total thyroidectomy, detectable levels of serum Tg are indicative of persistent or recurrent DTC. The new assay’s higher sensitivity potentially allows earlier detection of such persistence or recurrence, providing clinicians with the information they need to instigate rapid treatment.

The automated Elecsys® Calcitonin assay is another important tool addressing clinical needs in thyroid health management. In up to 10 % of all thyroid carcinoma patients a medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is identified.10 MTC produce elevated serum concentrations of calcitonin and can be diagnosed with an exceptional degree of accuracy and specificity by the Elecsys Calcitonin assay. Consolidation of the Elecsys Tg II and Calcitonin assays on to one automated platform allows the diagnosis of the majority of thyroid cancers.

The third assay to be added to the Roche portfolio aids differential diagnosis in lung cancer and management of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. SCLC accounts for approximately 20% of lung cancer cases and is an aggressive neoplasm of rapid growth with high sensitivity to chemo- and radiotherapy. Progastrin-releasing Peptide (ProGRP) is elevated in 68–86% of patients with SCLC. Additionally, as there is often metastasis into regional lymph nodes and/or distant organs at the time of SCLC diagnosis, quantitative determination of ProGRP in human serum and plasma using the fully automated Elecsys ProGRP assay can provide essential information for rapid patient management.