CIZ1B BioMarker Blood Test
A simple blood test for early-stage lung cancer, designed to detect the disease
when curative treatment is still possible.
The Science
This breakthrough test has the potential to transform lung cancer diagnostics, improving patient care while easing the strain on healthcare services.
The CIZ1B Biomarker
A Breakthrough in Early Diagnosis
Cizzle has pioneered a groundbreaking approach to lung cancer detection with the CIZ1B biomarker test—a non-invasive diagnostic tool designed to identify lung cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage.
By addressing a critical gap in current diagnostics, this test has the potential to transform patient outcomes by enabling early intervention, when curative surgical resection is still an option.
Scientific Foundations:
Backed by two decades of grant-funded research led by Professor Dawn Coverley and her team at the University of York, this innovative technology is built on a deep understanding of the CIZ1 protein, and its role in stabilising the patterns of gene expression that are established in normal cells and tissues.
Their research shows that CIZ1 normally functions as part of the nuclear structures that dampen the expression of some genes. They found that altered forms of the CIZ1 protein lead to undisciplined cells, and that this is linked with the early stages of cancer (1).
Despite the urgent need for early detection, there is currently no approved blood-based biomarker test available within the NHS for diagnosing lung cancer.
The biomarker
Since our admission to
Cizzles research has identified CIZ1B, a variant of the CIZ1 protein, as a highly-specific single protein biomarker, and validated it in laboratory studies using banked blood samples from patients with early-stage lung cancer (2).
In 2024, Cizzle succeeded in making monoclonal antibodies that recognise CIZ1B in blood plasma, providing a highly sensitive, simple and accurate diagnostic solution that can be applied to blood samples using tried and tested machinery that is already available in most hospitals (3).
How It Works:
The CIZ1B variant lacks a small segment, creating a unique target that is not present in the parent protein. CIZ1B is produced by lung cancer cells but passes into the blood stream where it binds to a protein called fibrinogen, which is normally involved in blood clotting. The fibrinogen protects CIZ1B and results in levels of the biomarker that can be measured with our monoclonal antibodies, even in patients with early-stage tumours.
🧪 CIZ1B is released by lung cancer cells into the bloodstream.
🧬 It binds to fibrinogen, a protein involved in blood clotting, allowing it to be measured even in patients with early-stage tumours.
🔬 Our proprietary ELISA-based immunoassay detects the CIZ1B biomarker, offering a non-invasive, low-cost, reliable test
Innovative Diagnostic Solution
Our test addresses the clear unmet clinical need for early lung cancer detection, crucial for enabling curative surgical interventions. Initially designed as an immunoassay for use in hospitals and reference laboratories, there is potential expansion to a point-of-care test suitable for primary healthcare settings.
All early clinical data supports CIZ1B as a highly reliable biomarker, offering a new frontier in lung cancer detection and care.
Advantages of the CIZ1B Biomarker Test
This breakthrough test has the potential to transform lung cancer diagnostics, improving patient care while easing the strain on healthcare services.
Benefits for Patients
Less radiation – Reduces exposure to repeated CT scans
Non-invasive – Requires only a small blood sample
Convenient – Reduces the need for hospital-based specialist scans
Faster diagnosis – Reduces waiting times and speeds up treatment decisions
Benefits for the Healthcare System
Optimised resources – Frees up CT scanners for critical cases
Cost savings – Reduces unnecessary procedures and interventions
Improved patient outcomes – Enables earlier, more effective treatment
Further Information
If you want to know more about CIZ1 and how it protects gene expression, these scientific papers contain more biological information:
Epigenetic deprogramming by disruption of CIZ1-RNA nuclear assemblies in early-stage breast cancers (2025) J. Cell Biol. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202409123
Epigenetic instability caused by absence of CIZ1 drives transformation during quiescence cycles. Dobbs OG, Wilson RHC, Newling K, Ainscough JF, Coverley D. BMC Biol. 2023. doi: 10.1186/s12915-023-01671-6. PMID: 37580709
Prion-like domains drive CIZ1 assembly formation at the inactive X chromosome. Sofi S, Williamson L, Turvey GL, Scoynes C, Hirst C, Godwin J, Brockdorff N, Ainscough J, Coverley D. J Cell Biol. 2022 Apr 4;221(4):e202103185. doi: 10.1083/jcb.202103185. PMID: 35289833
Maintenance of epigenetic landscape requires CIZ1 and is corrupted in differentiated fibroblasts in long-term culture. Stewart ER, Turner RML, Newling K, Ridings-Figueroa R, Scott V, Ashton PD, Ainscough JFX, Coverley D. Nat Commun. 2019. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08072-2. PMID: 30692537
To learn more about the work that correlates the CIZ1B biomarker with early-stage lung cancer, this paper describes early validation studies:
Variant Ciz1 is a circulating biomarker for early-stage lung cancer. Higgins G, Roper KM, Watson IJ, Blackhall FH, Rom WN, Pass HI, Ainscough JF, Coverley D. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Nov 6;109(45):E3128-35. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1210107109. PMID: 23074256
If you want to know more about how the commercial test is configured, this paper describes our proprietary CIZ1B-Fibrinogen sandwich ELISA format.
A quantitative immunoassay for lung cancer biomarker CIZ1b in patient plasma. Coverley D, Higgins G, West D, Jackson OT, Dowle A, Haslam A, Ainscough E, Chalkley R, White J. Clin Biochem. 2017 Apr;50(6):336-343. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2016.11.015. PMID: 27867087
