Congratulations to Abcodia, the biomarker validation company I work with, which has been granted world-wide exclusive license for ROCA, a test which has the potential to be a major breakthrough for the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

ROCA, which stands for the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm, is being validated for the screening of ovarian cancer. It has been used in studies involving more than 200,000 women for the ten-year UKCTOCS trial; preliminary results are promising, and the publication of a recent study at the MD Anderson Cancer Center provided further evidence of high performance.

The announcement of ROCA’s license was welcomed by Ovarian Cancer Action who said:

“This suggests that we are one step closer to a national screening programme for ovarian cancer here in the UK. The algorithm has been used in high profile studies both in the UK and the US and so far it has proven to be very accurate and very promising. We now only have to wait for the results of the UKCTOCS trial in 2015 the results of UKCTOCS – after which the path should be clear.”

Despite these promising results, the final results of the UKCTOCS study, due in 2015, will of course inform and guide the eventual clinical use.”

Abcodia’s CEO Dr Julie Barnes explained:

“The licensing of ROCA is a significant opportunity for Abcodia and we now intend to work with the co-founders to actively plan a commercialisation path that will in due course enable ROCA to be made available to women in Europe, US and around the world. We are currently in active discussions with partners in different territories to support our mission. Based on the reports to date, and in particular the sensitivity, specificity and PPV data, we will begin to explore ways in which the ROCA could be implemented in clinical practice. The eventual clinical use will of course be informed and guided by the outcome of UKCTOCS and other clinical trials.”

The UK survival rates for ovarian cancer are amongst the lowest in Europe at 36% as it can easily be misdiagnosed or women may not realise they are at risk until it is too late. The key symptoms include increased abdominal size and persistent bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and needing to pass water more urgently or frequently than usual.