Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat- As part of its Moldiag project, the MAScIR Foundation launched on Friday this week the first 100% Moroccan molecular diagnostic test for breast cancer.
The MAScIR Foundation is an applied research institution belonging to the scientific laboratories of the Polytechnic Mohammed VI University. During Friday’s ceremony, the foundation unveiled the first 100% Moroccan diagnostic test for breast cancer, developed and biologically validated in Morocco and internationally.
According to MAScIR, the test makes it possible to quantify the coding messenger RNA to identify the type of cancer and better define the therapeutic protocol. It will be affordable for all Moroccan citizens, the company promised.
Speaking at a press conference in Casablanca, the CEO of the MAScIR Foundation, Nawal Chraibi, spoke of the Foundation’s decade-long experience in the development of diagnostic kits, essentially those based on molecular technologies.
The director of the Center for Diagnostic Kits and Devices of the MAScIR Foundation and Scientific Director of Moldiag, Abdeladim Moumen, explained that this new kit is one of the many expected positive results from the foundation’s considerable investments in advanced scientific research.
“The test allows the diagnosis and quantification of the mRNA which codes for the HER2 protein using the RT-qPCR technique,” he said. The new test also aims to support the National Cancer Prevention and Control Plan within the Ministry of Health, supported by the Lalla Salma Foundation for the fight against cancer.
According to the Foundation, in Morocco, one in eight women is at risk of developing breast cancer. Additionally, nearly 10,500 women are diagnosed each year in the country, making it a region of great concern. Breast cancer constitutes the highest incidence of cancers in Morocco, with 36% of cases and 28% of deaths in the country.
Morocco uses clinical breast exam-based screening in place of mammograms, a technology whose relatively expensive cost and complex implementation decrease its accessibility to less-developed nations.
The country launched its cancer screening program in 2010 for women aged between 40 and 69.
