May 23, 2000 New York, NY -- The accuracy of the first general blood test for cancer has been independently confirmed (Thornthwaite, J.T Cancer Letters 148:39-48,2000). The Antimalignin Antibody in Serum (AMAS®) Test was shown in this blind prospective study to be 97% sensitive in predicting which small breast masses or lesions on mammography would be found to be malignant on subsequent biopsy; other tumor markers were only 0 to 16% sensitive.
Antimalignin antibody was discovered by Drs. Samuel and Elenore Bogoch of Boston, and shown in extensive controlled studies to be elevated in concentration in cancer regardless of the cell type. Thus the test is a general marker of malignant transformation; it is highly specific for malignancy, but not for the cell type affected. The AMAS® Test was developed to routinely and quantitatively measure the concentration of this antibody (for references see www.AmasCancerTest.com) or request a free kit with scientific peer-reviewed literature by calling 1.800.922.8378).
The AMAS® Test is being used in the U.S. and abroad as an aid to the early detection of cancer. Since the test indicates whether active cancer cells are present in the body but does not tell their location, it is used together with other clinical procedures and tests which suggest where the lesion is located but do not alone determine whether the pathology is benign or malignant. Used with other tests, less than 1% of cancers revealed by the AMAS® Test remain unlocated. For example, the test is used together with mammography, the PAP smear, and colonoscopy. AMAS is also used with the PSA (which alone has up to 70% false positives), CA125 (alone 95% negative for stage 1 ovarian carcinoma), and CAT scans (which alone have 98% false positives for lung cancer). In longitudinal studies AMAS elevation often precedes PSA or CA125 elevation by weeks or months. AMAS and PSA concentations rising together appear to indicate a change from ‘dormant’ to active cancer and can help to distinguish the small percent of prostrate cancer cases which may be of greater danger and may require more active treatment.
In patients who have recently, or in past years, had cancer treated, the AMAS® Test is also being used to monitor for remission or recurrence. As shown in a study of 8,090 patients and controls, this use for monitoring is as accurate as that for early detection (Bogoch and Bogoch, submitted for publication).Doctors also order the AMAS® Test for individuals who have never had cancer but are at a higher risk than the general population, as when they are from families with a high frequency of cancer, or have had exposure to carcinogenic agents, as in smoking, or are over 50 years of age. In individuals where the family history indicates an earlier onset of cancer, AMAS testing has been ordered routinely in the 30’s or 40’s.
When antimalignin antibody is coupled with a radioactive label and injected, it localizes in cancer cells preferentially, thus providing a means of localizing the site of malignant cells in the body. This product, termed SCANTAG®, is under development by ONCOLAB, Inc.
The chemical structure has been determined by the Bogochs of those parts of the antigen malignin (epitopes) which are responsible for the body recognizing malignin as foreign and making antimalignin antibody against it. When these epitopes are synthesized in the laboratory and injected into animals, a marked increase in the concentration of antimalignin antibody results. Antimalignin antibody is cytotoxic to cancer cells in low concentration (picograms/cell) and in actuarial survival studies the concentration of the antibody is related to survival in cancer patients. These epitopes, the first general synthetic cancer vaccines (CAVAX®), are now being tested by CANCER IMMUNE, Inc. in animals, and will be tested in humans (www.antimaligninantibody.com; see also Health Watch CBS 2/17/00 a promising diagnostic test for all cancer by John Casey www.HealthWatch.medscape.com (go to CBS Health Watch Library search "AMAS").