A diagnostic test, which tests for circulating levels of a specific antibody, provides a new tool for monitoring cancer patients in remission.

The antibodies bind specifically to a 10,000 molecular-weight protein found in a wide range of cancers. Because it monitors an aspect of the body's immune response to cancer, rather than cancer antigens or cancer cells in the bloodstream, the AMAS test is especially accurate early in the recurrence or first occurrence of cancer, when clinical signs of the disease may not be evident or may just be emerging. The AMAS test measures serum levels of antimitochondrial antibody (AMA), an antibody found to be elevated in most patients with a wide range of active non-terminal malignancies. AMA is the antibody to malignin, a 10,000 Dalton polypeptide that is found to be present in most malignant cells regardless of cell type or location.

Developed by Oncolab (Boston, MA, USA), the AMAS test complements new imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans. Used together, it is often possible to find small malignancies, leading to early and effective clinical treatment.

Patients in remission after successful cancer therapy, or a healthy normal population, generally have normal circulating levels of the antibody assayed in the test. AMAS's low false-positive rate, shown to be 5% in double-blind clinical studies, means that elevated results on the test are highly suspicious for a recurrence or unrelated new occurrence of cancer, and warrant further clinical investigation. The AMAS test is not generally useful in advanced cancer.

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