Abstract entitled “*Tumour response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer: Routine pathologic markers improve the predictive power of a cell-loss metric based on release of thymidine kinase 1 into blood*” will be presented by Bernard Tribukait at ESMO Asia Congress.

The purpose was to establish whether the predictive power of this cell-loss metric can be further improved by baseline tumour characteristics. The study included 58 women with localized BC received neoadjuvant epirubicin/docetaxel in six cycles, supplemented with bevacizumab in cycle three to six. And the cell-loss metric, defined as the ratio between sTK1 (ng/ml) and tumour volume (cm3), was obtained prior to and 48 hours after cycle two. The sTK1 was measured with AroCell TK 210 ELISA.

About Thymidine Kinase 1
Thymidine Kinase 1 (TK1) is a key enzyme in DNA precursor synthesis. It is upregulated during the late G1 phase and early S phase of the cell cycle and its presence in cells is an indicator of active cell proliferation. Increased levels of TK1 in the blood can indicate active cell proliferation as a consequence of abnormal cell turnover and cell disruption triggered by for example therapeutic agents.

About TK 210 ELISA
AroCell TK 210 ELISA is a quantitative immunoassay kit for the determination of Thymidine Kinase 1 (TK1) in human blood. The ELISA format is simple and robust, requires no special instrumentation to perform and can easily be incorporated in to standard laboratory processes. By utilizing monoclonal antibodies specific for the TK1 epitope TK 210, AroCell TK 210 ELISA brings improved sensitivity and specificity to the assay of this key biomarker. AroCell TK 210 ELISA provides new opportunities for studying cellular proliferation, disruption, and monitoring of therapy response and relapse in subjects with hematological and solid tumors.