One of the most devastating aspects of contracting Lyme disease today is the absence of a reliable test to diagnose Lyme and/or many of the co-infections that contribute to unnecessary suffering and mental anguish.

If you are bitten, the current protocol for doctors is to test the blood for antibodies using the ELISA test – which even some of the proponents of this system will admit to an 80% error rate.  Then, IF you have a positive ELISA the protocol is to take a Western Blot which is far more accurate than the ELISA in evaluating the number of antibodies but still very unreliable for those who have chronic Lyme (regardless of how many clinical manifestations are present.)

Well, a great stride towards positive diagnosis for Lyme disease may be just around the corner!

Business Wire has recently announced promising developments regarding the diagnosis of  certain types of cancer that prove to be indicative of Lyme disease as well.

Multimmune GmbH and Boulder Diagnostics Inc. have jointly announced the development of an HSP70 lateral flow point of care test.

Multimmune has discovered that many tumor types display the heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) on the cell surface. Multimmune is exploiting this signal for directed immune therapy to cure cancers.

The HSP70 lateral flow point of care test is being developed to test for elevated HSP70 levels in the blood of cancer patients and to evaluate the correlation of this occurrence with the presence of the tumor specific HSP70 cell surface marker. Boulder Diagnostics Inc. draws on its leading competence in lateral flow assay development to develop the HSP70 point of care test.

“The HSP70 point of care test will help us more rapidly to advance the important concept of tumor therapy against HSP70 expressing cancers”, comments Claus Botzler, Managing Director of Multimmune GmbH.

“We are excited to apply our extensive lateral flow assay development expertise to this novel and important diagnostic opportunity”, states Dede Willis, Chief Operating Officer of Boulder Diagnostics Inc.

Multimmune GmbH develops tumor therapies based on exploitation of tumor-specific cell surface markers.

They have advanced an ex vivo immune recruitment therapy against HSP70 displaying colon and lung cancers through clinical phase I, and have demonstrated pre-clinical proof of concept of an antibody therapeutic against HSP70 displaying tumors.

Their partner Boulder Diagnostics, is dedicated to the development of point of care lateral flow diagnostic assays, and is currently developing products to detect elevated homocysteine levels and for the diagnosis of Lyme disease.

There is fierce competition from research labs for grant money which will eventually turn the entire medical community “on its ears”, when the advancement of scientific understanding severs the wall of medical compliance with regards to diagnosing and treating chronic Lyme disease.