BOCX .81 Prepare To Be Amazed!
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Cancer Detection: Prepare To Be Amazed.
Biotech BioCurex (PK: BOCX) announced Tuesday, (release below) remarkable results from a recent blind study; the Company's proprietary RECAF blood test was able to detect breast cancer at the very earliest and therefore most curable of stages --with what we believe to be an unprecedented degree of accuracy.
The potential benefits and relevance of this development for patients, the healthcare system as a whole and ultimately, BioCurex shareholders, should be patently obvious to investors. The earlier any cancer is detected, the more lives and money will be saved - both in very significant numbers.
Announcements such as today's are among the many reasons that we continue to believe in BioCurex's technology and strongly suggest accumulation of this unique biotech for superior returns.
The RECAF blood test results identified among those within the sample group--the actual diagnoses were not disclosed to BioCurex until after the tests were performed-- which patients were afflicted with either early Stage 1 or Stage 2 breast cancer with a sensitivity exceeding 90 percent and 100 percent specificity (no false positives). While today's results are specific to breast cancer, the Company feels that these early detection results could well be recreated with similar consistency for many other types of cancer.
We mentioned our tech thoughts, briefly, in the sidebar of our last piece, prior to Tuesday's news. As we noted then, a bullish divergence appeared once we applied an MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) filter. The shares began to show signs of life, Monday and Tuesday, with marked up moves on rising daily volumes. We have delineated the near-term resistance levels on the chart should this upside momentum continue. We will provide more retracement levels should the price begin to move.
The .618 retracement is shown at the $1.15 level. We see that as the point to which renewed momentum could move the shares after this lengthy period of sideways price consolidation.
More reasons? How about this. Previous tests, while adept at detecting cancers, tended to lack the delineation of stage types. There tended to be a bias toward later stage cancers. The RECAF blood test results announced Tuesday show it is possible to screen for the earliest appearance of the disease and investors can easily extrapolate the potential viability and profitablity of the RECAF test as an eventual front-line screening/early detection protocol through a simple patient blood evaluation.
Sensitivity is the percentage of times a test detects cancer. Specificity is the percentage of times no false positives/negatives are recorded. Mammography has a sensitivity of 65-75 percent. The RECAF blood test exceeds 90 percent sensitivity. Mammography has a specificity of 90 percent--which translates into 10 percent false positives. The RECAF blood test showed 100 percent specificity--no false positives.
Allow me to postulate for a moment. Should the RECAF blood test eventually become a standard screening for all cancers--we'll use breast cancer for this discussion--a patient could have this test in a doctor's office and, if cancer exists, detect it at the earliest possible stage. Should the test be positive, further tests could be done to establish the cancer's exact location. Think of the RECAF blood test as a highly accurate 'early warning' system. Early detection means lives saved. A lot of lives. Period.
For investors, take that one scenario and multiply it by 100,000's, (potentially millions) of tests a year--either through RECAF licensee Abbott Labs' (NYSE: ABT) high volume Architect diagnostic system, eventual new licensees or even just a slew of local labs or hospitals. Expand that number to various forms of cancer and, as we said, the profit potential should come into crystal clarity. As I'm likely too fond of saying; just do the math.
Further, even if a patient was asymptomatic, such a test could be done as part of a routine, annual physical examination. Undoubtedly, it would save many patients from unnecessary worry as well as, in the case of breast cancer, unnecessary radical surgery and treatment. Woman who have a fear of, or a strongly biased family history toward breast cancer, could have an annual blood test to rule out the presence of disease or, markedly increase the likelihood of a positive treatment outcome should an early cancer growth be found.
For those who have been successfully treated for breast cancer, the test could be utilized frequently to detect a recurrence, but at its earliest stage. As anyone touched by cancer knows, recurrence of the disease tends to be more deadly than the initial round.
Patients with Stage 1 or 2 breast cancer have a 75 percent -plus chance of 5-year or better survival. Couple that with an annual or bi-annual RECAF blood test and the chance of missing a deadly recurrence in its earliest stages would be significantly reduced.
BioCurex has issued many other reports and results detailing how the RECAF blood test can detect various forms of cancer with higher sensitivity and specificity than is currently available . With today's results using Stage 1 and Stage 2 breast cancer patients within a blind sample group identified with virtually perfect specificity, the promise of detection of cancer at the most treatable stages is just that much closer.
As the Company has oft-stated, it continues to talk with potential partners and licensees regarding the RECAF technology. As well, it continues its robust R&D both in RECAF as well as its compelling imaging technology. A year has passed since the Abbott deal and frankly, no news is good news as the behemoth obviously is doing its own testing of the RECAF technology, potentially to be included in its high volume Architect patient diagnostic testing system.
Hopefully we'll hear more news on that front--and others--soon. We have little doubt that patient investors who either accumulate, add to or already have BOCX positions will be well rewarded. In our opinion,the technology is simply too compelling and critical to patients as well as the cost-sensitive healthcare system not to eventually gain traction as a front-line defense in the war on this scourge.
Big Pharma's profit-driven goal is to turn cancer into a chronic, manageable disease. Conversely, BioCurex's stated mandate is to identify cancers as early as possible, then successfully treat and ultimately identify, early, any deadly recurrences of the disease.
Early detection is the Holy Grail of current cancer treatment. In our opinion, BioCurex appears well on its way to completing that quest.
Some relevant context: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today (after lung cancer) and is the most common cancer among women, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005, approximately 211,240 women in the United States will be diagnosed invasive breast cancer (Stages I-IV). The chance of developing invasive breast cancer during a woman's lifetime is approximately 1 in 7 (13.4%). Another 58,490 women will be diagnosed with in situ breast cancer, a very early form of the disease. Though much less common, breast cancer also occurs in men. An estimated 1,690 cases will be diagnosed in men in 2005.
BioCurex Blood Test Detects Very Early Stages of Breast Cancer With High Specificity.
RICHMOND, British Columbia, April 11, 2006. -- BioCurex Inc. (BOCX.PK - News) announced today that its RECAF blood test for cancer is able to detect very early stages of breast cancer with a high degree of accuracy.
The study was blinded in that the actual diagnosis was not disclosed to BioCurex until after the test was performed. All samples were verified as early stage cancers - Stage I and Stage II. (There are four stages of cancer identifying the progression of the disease)
The table below shows the Sensitivity values with a specificity of 100% against normal patient samples (100% specificity means no false positives)
Cancer Stage* SENSITIVITY SPECIFICITY SAMPLES
Stage I 90% 100% 42
Stage II 93% 100% 45
Dr. Moro, President, stated: "We are very pleased with the data presented, which are consistent with previous results obtained on tissue sections. The results unequivocally illustrate the potential RECAF has to offer for early cancer detection and we anticipate that the results for other cancer types will be consistent with these findings reported for breast cancer. This level of accuracy is particularly significant for a screening test since early detection is the key when it comes to fighting cancer."
"Previous reports have demonstrated the ability of RECAF to detect many types of cancer from tissue biopsy specimens and blood tests due to the presence of RECAF receptor on the surface of malignant cells, but not normal cells. However, using blood samples of verified early stage cancers, we can now further delineate the value of RECAF for the world population in a humanistic and economic fashion."
The following statistics illustrate the importance of early diagnosis in relation to the outcome of breast cancer: Patients diagnosed at Stage I have a 5 year survival of 87%. At Stage II the 5 year survival rate is still high (75%). Survival drops to 46% when the patient is diagnosed at Stage III and at Stage IV it is only 13%**. It is well known that the costs to treat an early stage cancer are significantly less and the survival rate is much higher when a cancer is detected early.
The current standard for breast cancer screening is mammography. In the USA, the sensitivity of mammography to detect cancer is approximately 65-75% with 90% specificity (i.e. with 10% of false positives)***. Medicare pays $135 for a digital mammogram and $85 for film****.
About BioCurex
BioCurex, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is developing products based on patented/proprietary technology in the areas of cancer diagnosis, imaging and therapy. The technology identifies a cancer marker known as RECAFtm, which is found on malignant cells from a variety of cancer types but is absent in most normal or benign cells.
BioCurex has signed a licensing agreement with Abbott Laboratories for BioCurex's RECAFTM Cancer technology. Studies from the investigators at BioCurex and elsewhere have reported a high level of clinical sensitivity and specificity for RECAF in many of the most common cancers, including prostate, breast, colorectal, lung and others.
To read more about the Company, please visit the News section in our web site (www.biocurex.com).
Note
The Company has not authorized the release of this information in any form that contravenes the Communication Act and will not be responsible for unsolicited massive distribution of this material by e-mail or facsimile by unauthorized parties. Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are "forward-looking statements'' within the meaning given to that term in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Since these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.
Contact:
Ricardo Moro
BioCurex, Inc.
Tel: (604) 207-9150
* Breast cancer staging (Source: Oncolink):
Stage I: Early stage breast cancer where the tumor is less that 2 cm across and hasn't spread beyond the breast
Stage II: Early stage breast cancer where the tumor is either less than 2 cm across and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm; or the tumor is between 2 and 5 cm (with or without spread to the lymph nodes under the arm); or the tumor is greater than 5 cm and hasn't spread outside the breast
Stage III: Locally advanced breast cancer where the tumor is greater than 5 cm across and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm; or the cancer is extensive in the underarm lymph nodes; or the cancer has spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone or to other tissues near the breast
Stage IV: Metastatic breast cancer where the cancer has spread outside the breast to other organs in the body
** Pathologic Basis of Disease Robbins, Sixth Edition Published by W.B. Saunders Company, 1999.
*** Improving the accuracy of mammography: volume and outcome relationships.
Esserman L, Cowley H, Eberle C, Kirkpatrick A, Chang S, Berbaum K, Gale A.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2002 Mar 6;94(5):321-3.
**** Dr. E. Pisano in "Digital mammograms are better, but scarce", USA Today Posted 9/18/2005.
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