BRUSSELS, May 3 (Reuters) - Belgian cancer test company OncoMethylome has reported encouraging early results for its colon cancer test in stools, potentially giving doctors an easy-to-administer way to check for the common disease.
'In our study, the sensitivity and specificity of the combined test are both over 90 percent while also detecting a high percentage of early stage cancers,' said study leader Gerrit Meijer, from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, in a statement issued by the company on Monday.
Shares in the company were up 9.5 percent to 2.19 euros at 0718 GMT.
Colorectal cancer occurs in approximately one in every 17 people during their lifetime and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and Europe, the company said.
(Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Mike Nesbit) Keywords: ONCOMETHYLOME/STOOL (Brussels newsroom; +32 2 287 6812, fax +32 2 230 7710) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'In our study, the sensitivity and specificity of the combined test are both over 90 percent while also detecting a high percentage of early stage cancers,' said study leader Gerrit Meijer, from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, in a statement issued by the company on Monday.
Shares in the company were up 9.5 percent to 2.19 euros at 0718 GMT.
Colorectal cancer occurs in approximately one in every 17 people during their lifetime and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and Europe, the company said.
(Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Mike Nesbit) Keywords: ONCOMETHYLOME/STOOL (Brussels newsroom; +32 2 287 6812, fax +32 2 230 7710) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.