Strand Life Sciences launches liquid biopsy test

Strand Life Sciences has launched ‘STRAND LB’ that provides highly sensitive detection of tumour traces from a simple blood draw. This tool can provide early and precise indication of tumour presence, cancer recurrence, and response to therapy.

The Strand LB tests are an outcome of the collaboration between Scientific teams of Strand and Mazumdar Shaw Centre for Translational Research (MSCTR), who worked together to develop these advanced tests which were validated by clinicians at the Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center (MSMC).

These non-invasive Liquid Biopsy tests will advance the field of cancer diagnostics, as they offer ultra-sensitive detection of mutations which will help in early detection and intervention. To reflect the collaboration these tests will be made available and offered to all patients at MSMC.

Dr Vijay Chandru, CMD, Strand Life Sciences highlighted, "Liquid biopsy is a paradigm shift that involves a minimally-invasive procedure, no radioactive scans, and can detect tumor DNA traces from a simple blood draw. However, detecting tumour DNA requires a highly sensitive test capable of detecting one molecule in a 1000. Our study on patients spanning a wide variety of cancer types – including lung, colorectal, breast, and bladder cancer – shows that STRAND LB can detect tumour DNA traces in as many as 35 per cent of patients with early- stage cancer, going up to 70-90 per cent in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancer. These figures are at par with the best in the world."

Additionally, a team of experts from Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai-Dr Kumar Prabhash, Medical Oncologist, Dr Amit Dutt, Principal investigator-ACTREC and Dr Anuradha Chougule, Scientific Officer provided intellectual input and guidance in validation of the liquid biopsy.