PARSORTIX SYSTEM ENABLES NOVEL DISCOVERIES INTO THE BIOLOGY OF CANCER

ANGLE plc (AIM:AGL OTCQX:ANPCY), a world-leading liquid biopsy company with innovative circulating tumour cell (CTC) solutions for use in research, drug development and clinical oncology, is pleased to announce the publication of three new peer-reviewed publications reporting first-in-class research into the biology of cancer and potential therapeutic targets using the Company’s Parsortix system. 

Tumour cell release during surgery for prostate cancer¹

Professor Klaus Pantel and researchers from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf published an article in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, investigating tumour cell release into the local tumour vein and peripheral veins during surgery in early-stage prostate cancer patients. The study provides first evidence for substantial release of healthy and cancerous cells into the blood during prostatectomy surgery. This research opens a new avenue for the Parsortix system to study the important and under-investigated biology of tumour cell release during surgery to understand the risk they pose to patients, and for the development of strategies to minimise the spread of cancer.

Tumour cell release during surgery for ovarian cancer²

Professor John O'Leary and researchers from Trinity College Dublin have published similar findings in the European Journal of Surgical Oncology, investigating CTC enrichment from the local tumour vein and peripheral veins during surgery in rare epithelial ovarian carcinomas. They reported higher yields of CTCs and CTC clusters in the local tumour vein when compared to peripheral veins. The study also reported that CTCs were detected in early-stage patients, highlighting the risk of early tumour cell dissemination driving cancer progression even in the initial stages of disease. Overall, the authors state that assessing tumour cell release during surgery is a novel strategy to study the biology of this rare disease.

Mechanical conditioning & metastatic implications³

Professor Julie Lang and researchers from the Cleveland Clinic have published an article in Cancers, investigating biomechanical adaptions of cells that are associated with increased metastatic potential in breast cancer patients. They studied the expression of 1004 genes via RNA-sequencing that reflect how cancer cells respond to a stiff extracellular matrix described as a mechanical conditioning score. The Parsortix system was utilised to enrich and harvest CTCs from a metastatic cohort of breast cancer patients for analysis and compared these to primary and metastatic tissue. The study analysed RNA from CTCs rather than ctDNA to provide insight into gene expression. They state that: ‘When analyzing shed ctDNA, there is no insight into gene expression, but rather only the presence of tumor-specific mutations, which is not directly reflective of dynamic tumor gene expression. In fact, only a very small percentage of DNA mutations are expressed, which is why circulating tumor DNA and RNA from CTCs are not parallel assays’. The study reported that the mechanical conditioning score increases progressively through the metastatic cascade (from the primary tumour to CTCs to the metastatic site) and is associated with increased metastatic potential. These are new insights into the biology of metastatic progression and may guide treatment selection with anti-fibrotic drugs.

Overall, these publications further underscore the role of the Parsortix system in helping to advance our understanding of the biology of cancer which will ultimately advance oncology drug discovery and development. Already ANGLE’s technology has enabled breakthrough research in a number of areas including the metastatic potential of CTC clusters, new potential biomarkers and a novel drug class. Academic and translational research discoveries made possible by the Parsortix system, have the potential to feed the pipeline of next generation personalised cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, as pharma companies increasingly collaborate with academia⁴.

ANGLE’s Chief Scientific Officer, Karen Miller, commented:

“We are proud to see ANGLE’s technology increasingly being exploited to make novel discoveries into the biology of cancer, which may eventually result in new treatment strategies. With advancing analytical capabilities beginning to realise the vast potential of the circulating tumour cell for its wealth of multiomic information, this contribution to the oncology pipeline will continue to grow. We congratulate these key opinion leaders on their outstanding work, and we look forward to more exciting discoveries in the future.”

1. Emurlai, G. et al. Comparative analysis of circulating tumor cells in prostatic plexus and peripheral blood of patients undergoing prostatectomy. J. Exp. Clin. Cancer Res. 44, 143 (2025).

2. Lewis, F. et al. A pilot study evaluating the feasibility of enriching and detecting circulating tumour cells from peripheral and ovarian veins in rare epithelial ovarian carcinomas. Eur. J. Surg. Oncol. 51, (2025).

3. Mouneimne, G. et al. Mechanical Conditioning (MeCo) Score Progressively Increases Through the Metastatic Cascade in Breast Cancer via Circulating Tumor Cells. Cancers 17, 1632 (2025).

4. www.cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/drug-discovery/great-pharmaceutical-academic-merger/102/i31