Minomic, a Sydney-based diagnostic company, has developed an in vitro diagnostic test for the early detection of prostate cancer. Their product, MiCheck®, is a blood test that uses their patented monoclonal antibody together with other biomarkers to estimate the risk of a patient having aggressive prostate cancer. MiCheck® fills a major unmet market in prostate cancer diagnostics to counter reported high PSA levels and better assess patients by differentiating aggressive cancer from non-aggressive or no cancer before potentially invasive, expensive and patient deterring biopsies.
MiCheck®, as a simple blood test, is far less invasive than a prostate biopsy, usually providing results to the physician within 48 hours. The test works by measuring several protein biomarkers including a proprietary marker owned by Minomic called Glypican -1. MiCheck® is designed to help doctors decide whether a patient is in need of a biopsy or should move on to some form of active surveillance monitoring.
The PSA test is the most commonly used method to detect prostate cancer. However, PSA levels can be elevated due to reasons besides just prostate cancer. Through this method, six in ten men are potentially needlessly subjected to needle biopsy. Biopsies can be a painful process. They are often expensive, traumatic and can potentially lead to infection. This can result in many men being unwilling to take the necessary precautions to determine if they need treatment for prostate cancer. According to US Cancer Screening 2018, the estimated over-diagnosis using PSA for population screening in the USA is 23-29% for Caucasian men and 35-44% for African-American men.
MiCheck® provides more specific diagnostic results than a PSA check, allowing a urologist to determine whether a needle biopsy is truly necessary. This gives both patients and doctors confidence in their next steps – those who need cancer treatment will receive it sooner, and those who don’t are not subjected to unnecessary procedures.
To learn more about Minomic and MiCheck®, please visit their website.
