SCIENCE

OUTLOOK

Cancer is known for causing distinctive morphological changes to cell shape and nucleus. These abnormal – or atypical – cells start shedding into the host blood when the tumour is just 1-2mm in size. [2]

Cytological staining may expose these altered circulating cells to aid diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making, as well as early cancer detection in asymptomatic individuals. The most prominent example of a cytological screening test is the Papanicolaou (Pap) test, which examines smears from the cervix to identify abnormalities that may expedite cancer diagnoses. [3]

Broad-based introduction of the Pap smear as a frontline screening tool has reduced cervical cancer mortality by up to 92 per cent since the 1960s – but the test’s population impact is still limited. That’s because most tumour-associated atypical cells are still found in tissue samples obtained via biopsy – an invasive process that is not suitable for asymptomatic testing.

In a move to take the Pap principle to the next level, X-ZELL is now proposing an upgrade from smears and other forms of tissue extraction to non-invasive blood testing: X-ZELL’s single-cell diagnostics platform can isolate individual atypical cells from 10mL blood and digitise them for cytopathological evaluation.

To date, X-ZELL has analysed more than 2,000 samples and published 11 scientific papers and conference posters showing that single-cell diagnostics from blood has the potential to significantly improve diagnostic decision-making.