Biomodal Ltd. has published peer‑reviewed research in Nature Communications Medicine demonstrating that its novel duet evoC 6‑base sequencing solution can significantly enhance early detection of colorectal cancer from liquid biopsy samples, the company said. The study’s findings suggest potential for more sensitive, non‑invasive screening for stage I colorectal cancer, a stage where treatment outcomes are typically more favourable with early diagnosis.
In the analysis, circulating cell‑free DNA (cfDNA) from treatment‑naïve colorectal cancer patients was examined alongside samples from healthy controls using a sequencing approach that separately measures 5‑methylcytosine (5mC) and 5‑hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) epigenetic markers. By integrating both biomarkers into diagnostic models, the company’s approach achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 95 percent (AUC = 0.95) for identifying stage I colorectal cancer, markedly outperforming conventional methods that provide a combined modified cytosine readout with substantially lower accuracy.
The research also revealed that nearly half of the genomic regions analysed exhibited dynamic epigenetic changes across cancer progression stages, with increased 5hmC observed in early‑stage cases and decreased 5mC in late‑stage disease. Biomodal said this underscores the value of resolving distinct epigenetic signals to reveal biologically relevant patterns that are often obscured in standard sequencing workflows.
According to the company, these results highlight the potential for its multiomic liquid biopsy platform to support earlier cancer detection and improved clinical decision‑making, particularly for diseases such as colorectal cancer where early screening is critical to reducing mortality.
