A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) has confirmed that PetDx's - a San Diego-based molecular diagnostics company dedicated to improving pet health- OncoK9® Screen "liquid biopsy" blood test provides high sensitivity for clinically relevant and aggressive cancer types that are often difficult to detect in dogs by physical exam alone due to their anatomic location and/or lack of specific clinical signs, one being Hemangiosarcoma.
The study evaluated nearly 2,000 dogs with and without cancer across independent training and testing cohorts. It demonstrated a sensitivity of over 70% for the OncoK9® Screen test across seven cancer types (lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, leukemia, histiocytic sarcoma, primary lung tumors, and urothelial carcinoma), with a low false positive rate of <1.5% in cancer-free dogs.
As indicated by the press release, the OncoK9® Screen test's proprietary algorithm analyzes cell-free DNA (cfDNA) quantification data to generate a final result of High or Low Probability of Cancer for approximately 90% of samples tested, with the remaining automatically reflexed to additional testing by next-generation sequencing. No fasting is required for dogs before blood collection, and extracted samples are sent directly to the PetDx lab in specialized tubes, removing the need for in-clinic processing.
The OncoK9® Screen test can complement the physical exam to increase the number and types of cancers detectable during routine wellness visits to accomplish better preventive care protocols, according to Andi Flory, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology), and the study's lead author.
PetDx President and CEO Alejandro Bernal stated that using only cfDNA quantification analysis for the vast majority of samples allows the OncoK9® Screen test to be performed at a much lower cost and with a shorter turnaround time than the company's flagship test, which is now designated as OncoK9® Dx.
To learn more, visit PetDx.com and OncoK9.com.
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