Quest Diagnostics ($DGX) is rolling out a new test that spots molecular changes that increases a woman's chance of developing cervical cancer.
The Madison, NJ company said the new molecular diagnostic could benefit as many as 1.5 million women annually whose pap smear and HPV test results are inconclusive. Identifying women at heightened risk of the malignancy at an earlier stage allows for a more successful, preemptive treatment. Cervical cancer can be very hard to treat and often isn't detected until it reaches an advanced stage.
Known officially as the Quest Diagnostics Cervical Cancer TERC test, it is designed to test for abnormalities of the TERC gene, which can indicate a patient's risk for cervical cancer. The test also offers a big boost in diagnostics options for women at risk for cervical cancer. Pap smears and HPV tests can't definitively determine cervical cancer risk the company notes, and the new TERC diagnostic is designed to be used with the other two.
Hitting the market with the new TERC test could help re-ignite revenues that stalled in the company's 2012 second quarter, staying flat at $1.9 billion.
- read the release
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