Oncological Diagnosis
Our fight for early cancer detection
Oncology
Our fight for early cancer detection
Telomeres and cancer
Tumour cells work differently from normal cells. As a cell becomes cancerous, it divides more frequently, and its telomeres shorten faster.
However, cancer cells avoid the senescence/death that would normally result and instead become immortal with the ability to replicate indefinitely, even with short telomeres.
In addition, sometimes the expression and activity of telomerase (the enzyme responsible for repairing and lengthening telomeres) is increased in tumours compared to normal cells.
All of this ultimately results in uncontrolled growth of the tumour cells.
Therefore,alterations in telomere length are a good candidate biomarker for cancer.
The relationship between telomere length and cancer has been widely demonstrated,with more than 7,000 peer-reviewed scientific and clinical publications in this specific field.
ONCOCHECK is a set of clinical studies conducted by Life Length between 2017 and 2022 with funding granted by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
The objective of the ONCOCHECK project was the clinical validation of telomere-associated variables (TAVs) as oncological biomarkers by managing and analysing massive amounts of data with the aim of generating algorithms to improve cancer management.
The ONCOCHECK project made it possible to analyse TAVs in a wide variety of cancers including solid tumours, leukaemia, and childhood tumours, among others.
Using our proprietary telomere analysis technology (TAT®), the test combines the patient’s clinical data (PSA, free PSA, age, and digital rectal examination results) with their telomere-associated variables (TAVs)1.
The result of the test is a risk score (the ProsTAV score) that indicates the probability a given male patient will suffer from an aggressive prostate cancer. This provides doctors with a useful and rapid tool for clinical decision-making.
Would you like more information?
To find out more, contact us at oncologydiagnostics@lifelength.com or leave your information with us via this form.
Would you like more information?
To find out more, contact us at oncologydiagnostics@lifelength.com or leave your information with us via this form.
OUR CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES
We are the most highly accredited clinical laboratory in Spain and the only U.S. Federal laboratory in our country.
REFERENCES
- Rubio Galisteo, J.M., Fernández, L., Gómez Gómez, E. et al. Telomere-based risk models for the early diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 24, 88–95 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-020-0232-4
- de Pedro, N., Díez, M., García, I. et al. Analytical Validation of Telomere Analysis Technology® for the High-Throughput Analysis of Multiple Telomere-Associated Variables. Biol Proced Online 22, 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12575-019-0115-z
