July 21st, 2005

An announcement has been made with regards to the distribution of MesomarkTM, a blood test that will be used to speed up the diagnosis of mesothelioma, the asbestos related cancer. Fujirebio Diagnostics has signed an agreement with Vital Diagnostics to begin the distribution, which will be the first one for this blood test.

The blood test is something of a recent breakthrough, and is able to detect the presence of mesothelioma through proteins that are released into the blood stream by cancer cells. The most important aspect of this blood test is that it can detect the presence of mesothelioma in the earlier stages, which gives patients a far better chance of getting effective treatment and initiating early action.

A statement on emaxhealth.com read: “MESOMARK is the first in-vitro diagnostic test for patients with mesothelioma and has the potential to improve survival rates and quality of life for patients with this aggressive and often fatal disease.”

It is thought that the blood test could be particularly useful in cases where a person thinks that they may have been exposed to asbestos, as the test will be able to pick up on signs of early mesothelioma, which can typically take around thirty years to develop.