Epigeomics identifies lung cancer biomarkers

Berlin, Germany-based Epigenomics AG, a specialist in the field of molecular diagnostics, says it has identified a series of novel lung cancer biomarkers, which it says completes the first stage of its R&D program focused on the disease.

Epigenomics said that it had employed its proprietary differential methylation hybridization technology to identify genes which show a higher degree of methylation in cancerous tissue than in healthy tissue. The firm explained that it had subsequently used these biomarkers for the in vitro detection of cancerous cells, adding that it was able to detect tumor cells from both small and non-small cell lung cancers.

The company said that it will assess the identified biomarkers on a larger group of lung cancer and control samples to confirm their utility.