Epistem to Present Plucked Hair Biomarker Data at ASCO-NCI-EORTC Meeting

Epistem to Present Plucked Hair Biomarker Data at ASCO-NCI-EORTC Meeting

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM --(Marketwire-October 27, 2008) - Epistem plc (LSE: EHP), the UK biotechnology and contract research company, will present results from their latest plucked hair biomarker study at the ASCO-NCI-EORTC Meeting on Molecular Markers in Cancer, Hollywood FL, United States on Friday 31st October 2008. Dr Ged Brady will present data to show that cell cycle genes, previously identified in breast tumour tissue and linked to clinical outcome in breast cancer patients, are also differentially expressed in single intact and dissected plucked hairs from healthy normal volunteers. 

The study demonstrates the viability of monitoring gene expression in single human hairs to identify expression profiles relevant to tumour biology.  Using a minimally invasive approach to obtain sensitive and reproducible data, the results support the case that plucked hairs are a suitable surrogate tissue for biomarker identification and analysis in clinical oncology trials.

The abstract will be available on request following the presentation (poster session C 5:30 – 7:00 pm).

For further information on the Company, please visit www.epistem.co.uk or contact:

Dr. Danielle Hargreaves +44 (0)161 606 7258
Public Relations +44 (0) 7920 815603
Epistem plc. info@epistem.co.uk

Mike Wort / Anna Dunphy +44 (0) 207 861 3838
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