Campbell, Ca., January 17, 2009 - Hunter Labs Introduces new HPV mRNA OncoTect Test

HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases and is the chief cause of cervical cancer, which annually affects approximately 500,000 women worldwide.

Hunter Laboratories is excited to offer a new tool that will aid diagnosis and management of HPV and cervical cancer. HPV OncoTect is a screen for cervical cancer, which identifies the oncogenic activity of HPV in infected cervical cells by measuring HPV mRNA E6-E7.

The HPV OncoTect test detects lesions earlier than Pap tests because molecular changes occur well before morphological changes. Current HPV DNA methods do not detect cancer progression, only the risk of progression to cancer. Even with the most carcinogenic of all genotypes (Type 16) there is only a 4.4% chance that the patient will develop cervical cancer. This clinical "false positive" rate leads to unnecessary follow-up procedures and patient anxiety.

The presence of high levels of HPV E6, E7 mRNA in individual cells indicates that these cells are undergoing to molecular changes of cellular transformation that are the early stages of cervical cancer development. The HPV OncoTect test will increase the positive predictive value of cervical screening from 15-25% to 90% with equivalent sensitivity and negative predictive value. Because the HPV OncoTect test does not require batching, the turn around time is only one day.