Singapore – Lucence Diagnostics, a genomic medicine company focused on inventing advanced cancer diagnostics, and Mascots Medical and Laboratory Centre, a healthcare service provider in Myanmar, announced a partnership to distribute Lucence’s blood tests for cancer detection and treatment in Myanmar.

Lucence develops blood tests that diagnose cancer more quickly, accurately and costeffectively with a single draw of blood. Through this collaboration, Mascots will market Lucence’s range of blood tests for cancer screening and treatment selection in Myanmar.

The tests are based on Lucence’s patented liquid biopsy technology, which detects circulating tumor DNA shed by the tumor into the bloodstream to identify the cancer driving mutations. This allows doctors to select cancer treatment that is tailored to the unique genetic mutations in each patient’s cancer. Lucence’s liquid biopsy tests provide a non-invasive way to diagnose cancer compared to conventional tissue biopsy, which requires surgical removal of tissue from the body. The tests target breast, colon, lung and pancreatic cancers, among others.

Lucence also has a blood test for the early detection of nasopharyngeal cancer before symptoms show. The test detects a DNA fragment of the Epstein-Barr virus called BamHI-W, which is found in almost all patients with this cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer is common in Southeast Asia and Southern China. Additionally, Lucence’s blood tests can check whether a person is predisposed to cancer by detecting genes commonly associated with increased risk of cancer.

Mascots Medical and Laboratory Centre provides a range of medical services including specialist consultation, health screening, diagnostics service, laboratory service, vaccination service as well as medical and laboratory referral services to Singapore hospitals. With this partnership, Lucence’s cancer blood tests will now be made available to all its customers in Myanmar.

More than 60,000 new cancer cases are estimated to occur each year in Myanmar, and the cancer death rates in Myanmar men and women are the third and fifth highest in Southeast Asia .

“Myanmar is facing a cancer epidemic with death rates from cancer rising every year. There is a need for better ways to detect and treat cancer in Myanmar. Through this partnership with Lucence, we can provide simple blood tests to help our people detect cancer as early as possible, understand their risk of cancer, and provide them with a better choice of cancer treatment,’’ said Dr. Thynn Myo Myo Aye, Director, Mascots Medical and Laboratory Centre.