For Immediate Release

May 30, 2001

Mercy First National Research Site for Breast Cancer Blood Test
Oklahoma Women Among 1,000 in National Clinical Study to Determine if NMP66 Blood Test Will Become Future Screening Procedure for Breast Cancer

OKLAHOMA CITY—The Women’s Center at Mercy is the first in the nation to participate in a national clinical trial to determine if a simple blood test is viable as a future screening procedure for breast cancer.

Mercy Health Center is joining five other sites around the country researching the breast cancer blood test called NMP66 (nuclear matrix protein 66), developed by Matritech. Additional sites for the study include M.D. Anderson, Cornell, Beth Israel and several international sites. 1,000 women undergoing breast biopsies, as well as a second group of women with normal mammograms, will be recruited for the test as part of the clinical trial to study the ability of NMP66 to detect cancer and differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. In preliminary studies, NMP66 was accurate both in identifying women with breast cancer, and in excluding women who did not have breast cancer.

“Early detection is one of the keys to winning the war against breast cancer and this blood test shows promise in detecting breast cancer earlier than we currently do,” said Dr. Alan Hollingsworth, medical director of the Women’s Center at Mercy. “Women have been looking for this kind of test for years and now Mercy is honored to be among the limited number of distinguished centers in the nation chosen to research its efficacy.”

Using the same NMP technology, Matritech has successfully developed an FDA-approved kit for bladder cancer, and now they hope to apply the same technology to breast cancer. Blood samples taken from Oklahoma women will be sent to the Matritech labs in Newton, Massachusetts, where they will be analyzed.

“Mammography remains the best breast cancer detection method, but half of the women who should be getting mammograms are not getting their exams,” noted Dr. Hollingsworth. “Though mammograms, breast ultrasound and self-examination will remain the standard of care for detecting a cancer of the breast, this blood test may eventually identify those women who need a more aggressive diagnostic approach.”
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