On May 13, 2020 VolitionRx Limited (NYSE AMERICAN: VNRX) ("Volition"), an epigenetics company developing simple, easy to use and cost effective blood tests to help diagnose a range of cancers, reported that it will present three abstracts at the 2020 ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (Press release, VolitionRX, MAY 13, 2020, View Source [SID1234557947]).

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ASCO Abstract e20078 "Circulating nucleosomes in hematological malignancy"
The first abstract presented announces initial data demonstrating the ability of Volition’s sample-enrichment tool, Nu.Q Capture, to separate short and long nucleosomes in clinical colorectal cancer samples to enable the concentration of tumor-derived nucleosomal markers prior to analysis. The other two abstracts presented provide new performance data for Volition’s Nucleosomics Nu.Q technology in the early detection of lung cancer and blood cancer.

E13534: Enrichment of circulating tumor DNA from cell free DNA of Hematopoietic origin

Data from this pilot study, the first published results for Volition’s Nu.Q Capture program, showed that Nu.Q Capture technology successfully demonstrated enrichment of circulating tumor nucleosomes and tumor DNA ("ctDNA"). The data clearly showed the separation of short and long nucleosomes from both cancer cell lines in a laboratory setting, and in clinical colorectal cancer patients versus healthy controls.

Dr. Mark Eccleston, Business Development Director and a founding scientist at Volition, said: "Effective removal of most ‘healthy/long’ nucleosomes creates an enriched sample allowing for more accurate measurement of cancer nucleosomes. Similarly, the removal of most ‘healthy/long’ nucleosome-associated DNA can also enhance detection of cancer using ctDNA technologies. These data are a really positive sign of the potential of Nu.Q Capture as a valuable tool to enable improved and earlier detection of cancer."

For more information about this abstract please watch this short video: View Source

E15542: Performance of a Nu.Q-H3.1 assay for lung cancer detection
This study, conducted in conjunction with Dr. Anne Sibille and team of Liege University Hospital, Belgium, aimed to assess the performance of a Nu.Q assay in discriminating both between lung cancer and healthy controls, and between lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ("COPD").

A pilot study of 142 subjects demonstrated that Nu.Q assays could not only discriminate lung cancer versus healthy controls with an Area Under the Curve ("AUC") of 88%, but also between lung cancer and COPD with an AUC of 85%. The AUC is an industry accepted measure of the effectiveness of an assay whereby 100% is the most accurate.

Commenting on this study, Dr. Marielle Herzog, Research and Development Director at Volition, said: "Lung cancer is not only the most prevalent cancer, but it is also the most deadly, responsible for over 1.75 million deaths worldwide each year. Its diagnosis currently relies on invasive methods and often occurs at a late stage of disease, explaining its poor outcome. Our hope is that a blood-based test could aid earlier diagnosis. Based on these encouraging results, we believe further studies with larger numbers of patients should be performed to confirm and validate the usefulness of these biomarkers and models."

E20078: Circulating nucleosomes in hematological malignancy
This pilot study investigated the circulating levels of intact nucleosomes containing the histone H3.1 isoform (Nu.Q-H3.1) in a variety of solid tumors including Non Hodgkin Lymphoma ("NHL"), Acute Myeloid Leukemia ("AML"), Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia ("ALL"), and in healthy subjects.

The results showed elevated levels of Nu.Q-H3.1 in patients diagnosed with cancers. Only 14 of 271 patients with a solid tumor had levels >200ng/ml. In contrast, the median Nu.Q-H3.1 levels observed for patients with NHL, AML and ALL were 276, 284 and 585ng/ml, respectively. The median nucleosome level in 62 healthy subjects was 40ng/ml and the highest level was 198ng/ml. The Area Under the Curve ("AUC") for all patients diagnosed with NHL, AML or ALL (n=54) vs healthy subjects was 91% with a sensitivity of 74% at 95% specificity.

Lead author, Dr. Jason Terrell, Chief Medical Officer at Volition, commented: "Elevated nucleosome levels have been reported for a number of diseases. These encouraging early results indicate that levels of Nu.Q-H3.1 are particularly elevated in haematological cancers. These data show that Nu.Q technology may be a useful diagnostic tool warranting further study."

For further information about this abstract please watch this video presentation:
View Source

Abstracts will be available to view starting at 5:00 pm ET on May 13, 2020 on the ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Meeting Library.