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By Meg Flippin, Benzinga

Colorectal cancer is no longer a disease that affects only the elderly. Kids and teens are being diagnosed at an alarming rate. Over the past two decades, the number of cases of this form of deadly cancer has skyrocketed 500% among young people. Kids between 10 and 14 have seen cases rise 333%.

That’s why actors including Frankie Muniz and influencers like Petra Smeltzer Starke, founder and CEO of a global growing hot yoga healthy lifestyle brand SweatNGlow, are sounding the alarm and spotlighting the problem. It makes sense. Colorectal cancer is a major cause of death in America, killing 50,000 people each year. What’s more, 71% of the diagnoses made are in the later stages of the disease. But if it's caught early, the survival rate after five years is 90%. Despite those favorable odds, only about four in ten colorectal cancers are spotted at the early stage.

Mainz And Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Team Up

It’s also why Mainz Biomed NV (NASDAQ: MYNZ), the molecular genetics diagnostic company, has been working hard to bring ColoAlert®, its early detection screening that spots bleeding and non-bleeding tumors through tumor DNA analysis, to market. The company specializing in the early detection of cancer just inked a deal with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) through its Life Technologies Corporation subsidiary to jointly develop and potentially commercialize ColoAlert in the U.S. Mainz Biomed said the collaboration will leverage Thermo Fisher Scientific’s technologies, instrumentation and information translation systems to enable Mainz Biomed to develop the proprietary assays for its mRNA-based next-generation CRC screening tests.

“This collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific will be instrumental to our goal to bring to market a home collection colorectal screening tool with highly effective detection of adenomas,” said Guido Baechler, CEO of Mainz Biomed. “Our product development will be greatly enhanced by Thermo Fisher Scientific’s knowledge and scalable, class-leading technologies, providing both partners with a means to accelerate the availability of an innovative new test for colorectal cancer screening around the world.”

The company noted that clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe have been successful. In clinical trials, Mainz Biomed said ColoAlert’s sensitivities exceeded 90% for detecting colorectal cancer and over 80% for advanced adenomas. The company is gearing up to launch a clinical FDA trial in the U.S. next year. If that is successful, Mainz Biomed will be able to sell ColoAlert to millions of Americans at risk of colorectal cancer.

Mainz Biomed’s Method To Take Screening To The Next Level

ColoAlert, via stool samples, spots the four tumor markers associated with cancer: KRAS-mutation, BRAF-mutation, total amount of human DNA and occult blood. The company’s flagship non-invasive test targets early detection of colorectal cancer and focuses on precancerous lesions or advanced adenomas. Detecting advanced adenomas is crucial in preventing colorectal cancer, as identifying patients with these lesions allows for timely intervention through colonoscopy and adenoma removal, thereby averting cancer development, reports Mainz Biomed.

While the cases among young adults and children are increasing at an alarming rate, Islam Mohamed, MD, an internal medicine resident physician at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the cases aren’t high enough to suggest widespread colonoscopy screening. It does suggest knowing the symptoms and getting screened to combat this form of cancer. “Colorectal cancer is no longer considered just a disease of the elderly population,” said Mohamed. “It’s important that the public is aware of signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer.”

On top of being accurate, ColoAlert is easy to use, which Mainz Biomed is betting should be a big driver of adoption. Within five minutes your sample is collected and packaged and on the way to the lab. Patients receive a kit in the mail that includes instructions, a stool collector and a shipping label to return the kit to their local lab for testing. Patients receive the results in a few days. Unlike the rival ColoGuard, Mainz says ColoAlert requires very small samples to test, which is one of the reasons the company boasts 98% patient satisfaction.

Colorectal is a deadly form of cancer, but one that doesn’t have to be if it's spotted early. Mainz Biomed, along with Thermo Fisher Scientific, wants to play a role in solving the problem by bringing ColoAlert to the masses. This collaboration brings them one step closer to achieving that.

Featured photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.

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