In a major effort to save time in diagnosing the leukaemia and lymphoma cancers, Quest Diagnostics with its novel test 'Leumeta' will now help to detect biomarkers of leukaemia and lymphoma using minimally invasive blood analyses rather than painfully extracted and risky bone-marrow biopsies.

Leumeta is Quest Diagnostic's proprietary family of tests which is designed to measure 'tumour load' or the amount of cancer in a patient. It helps to detect certain blood cancer markers and assist the physician in monitoring the impact of treatment. They are the first diagnostic assays available to doctors that directly measure tumour load and identify markers in blood plasma, said Dr Maher Albitar, director, Haematology & Oncology, Quest Diagnostics' Nichols Institute.

The cost for a Leumeta test may vary depending on the test is being used. The most common one being BCR/ABL Gene rearrangement Quantitative PCR priced at Rs 7,000. Of course, hospitals may receive a discounted price because of the greater frequency with which they are likely to use the test. The novel test helps to better health outcomes to patients with some haematological cancers, he added.

Presently, Quest Diagnostics is the only provider of the Leumeta test. Prior to this, the test was not available to physicians and patients in India. Now the oncologists in the country can order for Leumeta tests only through Quest Diagnostics in India.

In some cases, an oncologist physician may be able to use Leumeta in place of a bone-marrow biopsy, which may require hospitalization which is also expensive. In addition, Leumeta is also far less invasive than biopsy, sparing patients the pain and trauma that often accompanies the biopsy procedure. However, a far more important issue than cost is quality and patient care, stated Dr Albitar.

On whether Quest Diagnostics would tie-up with the Government to control leukaemia and lymphoma, through its National Cancer Control Programmes, Dr Albitar stated that though it was always interested in identifying avenues to help patients and physicians to achieve better health outcomes, at this point of time there was no information on the joint arrangements with the government.

Quest's marketing strategy is to target the Leumeta tests to oncologists working independently or at hospitals.

According to the leukaemia/lymphoma report of November 2008, US, this type of cancer is the fifth most common cancer among males and females in US. In India the cases are yet to be formally registered in the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) initiated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This cancer which stems from lymphatic system occurs in two major categories known as Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).