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Order one of our Allergyfocus tests today to help avoid allergies. Currently with our launch discount!

Discover more about your allergy

20% of children

develop allergies

30% of adults

develop allergies

1-10% of people

have food hypersensitivity

99% of global allergens

tested by Allergyfocus

It is estimated that 20% of children and 30% of adults develop allergies in their lifetime. People can be allergic to environmental factors such as pollen, moulds, house dust, animal dander or certain foods like nuts, milk and shellfish.

Allergies can give rise to a wide range of symptoms including itchy skin rashes, hives and eczema, tingling in the mouth, wheezing and breathlessness, hay fever and even anaphylactic shock. Allergies are caused when your immune system produces high levels of antibodies called immunoglobulin E (IgE) against the allergens.

The Allergyfocus IgE antibody test quickly and accurately detects 99% of globally known allergens from a finger prick blood sample. The test provides a comprehensive personalised antibody profile of your allergy triggers for precise diagnosis.

Discover more about your allergy from the comfort of your own home with our Allergyfocus at-home health tests. 1-10% of adults and children have a food hypersensitivity and our comprehensive Allergyfocus molecular antibody test covers the following Allergic Reactions:

  • Pollen from trees and grasses
  • Proteins secreted from house dust mites
  • Moulds
  • Foods eg nuts, milk, shellfish, eggs
  • Pets eg cats, dogs, horses, rabbits
  • Wasp and bee venom

Knowing exactly what you are allergic to allows you to take steps to reduce exposure to the allergen and avoid positive foods from your diet.

This will lead to a considerable improvement in quality of life including better control of ezcema, improved ability to exercise, reduction in sneezing and nose blowing and improved sleep. People at risk of anaphylactic shock may need to carry emergency epinephrin treatment.

The Allergyfocus IgE molecular antibody test quickly and accurately detects 99% of globally known allergens from a finger prick blood sample and provides a comprehensive individual antibody profile. Up to 300 different allergens are tested, including all known allergy triggers for precise diagnosis.

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Allergyfocus Brochure

For all the information on our Allergyfocus test, download our brochure.

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Prostatefocus Brochure

Allergyfocus Sample Report

View an example report from our Allergyfocus test. This example shows all 300 allergens from our Comprehensive Allergy test.

Your actual report may vary in length, as we only report the Allergens that you are detected to be sensitive to.

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Allergyfocus Kit Includes:

  • 1x Sample Collection Tube (incl protective packaging)
  • 3x Blood Sample Lancet
  • 3x Adhesive Plaster
  • 3x Alcohol Swab
  • 1x Sample Label
  • 1x Test Record Card
  • 1x Instructions Booklet
  • 1x Pre-paid Return Sleeve
What is an allergy?

Allergies affect 20% of the population with symptoms ranging from mild hayfever to potentially life-threatening food allergies. Allergic reactions occur when your body identifies a normally harmless substance (allergen) as dangerous and begins to produce antibodies. These antibodies are immunoglobulin E (IgE), and when these bind to allergens they cause the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine – which cause allergic reactions.

Why an IgE test?

Each allergen that causes an allergic response will have a specific group of IgE antibodies to combat it. People with a high total of IgE usually suffer from multiple allergies. The more IgE antibodies there are against an allergen, the more sensitised they are and the greater the risk of developing an allergy.

What is the difference between sensitisation and allergy?

Sensitisation is when your immune system produces IgE antibodies in response to an allergen. It is the levels of allergen specific antibodies that the Allergyfocus test measures. Some people may be sensitised to an allergen (and therefore have detectable IgE antibodies targeting it) but never show any symptoms of an allergy. Whilst high levels of IgE cannot predict if you will experience symptoms or how severe they may be, an IgE test provides strong evidence for the presence or absence of allergies and has become a vital tool in modern allergy diagnosis.

What age is the self-sample kit suitable for?

The finger prick self-sample blood collection kit is not suitable for use by anyone under the age of 10. Children between 10 and 16 using the finger prick self-sample blood collection kit should be supervised by an adult.

When is the kit dispatched?

All orders placed before 12pm BST Monday to Friday are, where possible, dispatched same day via Royal Mail (or courier for multiple kit purchases) to UK addresses. Any orders placed after 12pm BST Friday will be dispatched to the UK address on the following Monday.

How do I complete the sample?

Included within the Allergyfocus test kit is detailed instructions for completing your sample for our lab. Alternatively, you can download the instructions from here.

What do my results mean?

Your results are given in kUa/L – kilounits of allergen-specific IgE per litre. You will receive a total IgE (tIgE) measurement, which is a measure of the total amount of IgE against all allergens in your sample. You will also receive measurements for each allergen that you have reliably detectable amounts of specific IgE for. The higher these measurements are, the more sensitised you are to an allergen. In the details of the report, you will see both molecular components of allergens (part of a whole allergen) and extracts of allergens.

Remember that whilst these results are a useful guideline, they don’t by themselves constitute an allergy diagnosis. You should always consult with a healthcare professional if you are concerned about anything in your report. Due to high variability on values below 1kUA/L we recommend that anything below 1kUa/L should not be considered as clinically relevant.

What to consider from my results?

Whilst the Allergyfocus test contains a wide array of allergens, you may be sensitised to other allergens not included in this test.

Sensitisation to allergens in some individuals may be dependent on other factors of an individual’s immune response or whether the allergen has been cooked/digested. These circumstances are not incorporated by the test.

IgE levels also slowly decrease when allergens have not been encountered for some time, so any foods that you have been strictly avoiding may show lower results than expected. There are also some non-IgE mediated allergies (though rare) and intolerances that are not covered by the Allergyfocus test.

If you have never encountered an allergen then you will have never produced specific antibodies for that allergen. For example, you could be allergic to bee venom but if you have never been stung you will not have antibodies for it.

This test alone should not be used as a diagnosis. You should consult with a healthcare professional before making major lifestyle or healthcare changes.

How long does it take to get Allergyfocus test results?

Once a sample has been received by our lab, the test process takes up to 3 working days. This excludes weekends and bank holidays.

Allergen component: Individual proteins from allergens that could cause allergies. Testing against these is typically more sensitive than testing whole extracts, but there might be multiple components to be tested from individual allergens.

Allergen extract: A mixture of proteins from one allergen that are potential causes of allergy. These are typically extracted from naturally occurring sources of allergens and contain multiple allergen components.

Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever) is the most common form of non-infectious rhinitis, affecting 10-15% of children and 26% of adults in the UK. It accounts for accounts for 16.7 million physician office visits annually

Sensitisation: The process in which your body creates IgE antibodies against allergens. Once you are sensitised your body is primed to have type 1 allergic reactions, and this is what the Allergyfocus test actually measures.

Venom Allergy where immediate sting reactions are experienced vary from 1% to 7% of the general population.

Considering the Allergyfocus test?

1

Order Allergyfocus online

2

Oncologica confirms order and dispatches kit

3

Collect finger prick sample as per kit instructions.

4

Oncologica receives the sample and performs the test in our laboratory.

5

Customer will receive an email notification when results are ready to view on their online dashboard

Food Intolerance and Sensitivity Test

Dr David Fenelly

MD FRCPI ESMO

Former: Consultant Medical Oncologyst St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH); St Luke’s Hospital, National Maternity Hospital; St. Vincent’s Private Hospital; and Blackrock Clinic, Dublin; Member of International Advisory Board of Oneview Ltd. and Oneview Healthcare PLC; Member Director Centre for Colorectal Disease of SVUH;

Member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society of Medical Oncology and Irish Society of Medical Oncology; Fellow of Royal College of Physicians; Formerly: Member of Breast and Gynaecological Cancer; Post Graduate Training from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre.

Prof Umberto Tirelli

MD

Former: Consultant Medical Oncologyst National Cancer Institute Aviano; Specialist in Oncology, Hematology and Infectious Diseases; “Commendatore” of the Italian Republic, awarded by the President of the Republic for scientific merit; co-founder and VP of the Associazione Scientifica Galileo 2001; Member of the Technical Scientific Board (CTS) at Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO) in Aviano, Istituto Nazionale Tumori; Assigned to the Scientific Council of AIN (Associazione Italiana Nucleare) on nuclear power; Former President of AIMAC (Cancer Patients Italian Association) and now part of the Scientific Council;

Formerly appointed by the Italian Minister of Health as member of the National Oncology Commission; Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the American Society of Hematology (ASH),and the International Immune-compromised Host Society (IHS); Member of the Scientific Committee of the AIOTE (Italian Association of oncology of the elderly);

Task Force Member (EORTC – European Org for Research and Treatment of Cancer) – Cancer in the elderly; Member of National Academy of Medicine for medical oncology (AIOM);  Environmental Comm. Committee mmber appointed by the Minister of the Environment.

Prof Daniele Generali

MD

Former: Consultant Medical Oncologyst, Azienda Istituti Ospitalieri, Cremona and Prof of Medical Oncology, Trieste Univ; Former Prof of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford Univ. Member of the Board of European Commission for initiative on Breast Cancer; Director of the Unit of Molecular Therapy and Pharmacogenomics, Azienda Istituti Ospitalieri, Cremona; Clinical Director of the Italian Red Cross, Cremona Section; Scientific Director of the Association of Research in Oncology Onlus, Cremona.

I would just like to thank you all for your help, support and professionalism this year, I contacted you after my recurrence of breast cancer, everything was explained to me in detail and I decided to go ahead with the test, I am so glad I did, every one I dealt with was so kind and encouraging, I was very scared about the journey ahead of me. The promptness of all the team was amazing my biopsy was collected quickly and I was contacted by Sarah constantly with updates on what was happening. As soon as the tests were completed I was sent the report with a follow up telephone call from the Doctor who talked me through it, he said he would be available to answer any further questions.

I showed the report to my hospital. Doctors and they were impressed with the information gathered and I am on the drugs recommended in my report and I have been really well with no side effects. Thank you all again.

I would like to pass not only my, but my father’s, gran’s and entire family and friends appreciation to not only Oncologica® but to you directly. Sarah, you went above and beyond what was expected, you took a personal interest and gave huge support. Your tone was always polite and you helped to listen to myself during the emotional moments when speaking. The hope you as a person gave and the encouragement, helped when I had to mount the challenge on behalf of my mother and father. Myself and my father agreed before taking to Oncologica® that as long as we tried all avenues and did everything we could for my late mother, this would be the only way we could coped.

Without yourself and Oncologica® we would not have been able to achieve the goal. My late mother took hope, encouragement and huge amounts of mental positively from the work but more importantly the personal touch you gave. As a person your indirect support helped my late mother. A person who didn’t praise health professionals easily due to career in the NHS and private sector. She praised you from the information, hope and personal feel you gave. You helped to give her peace of mind and know all options were looked into. I can’t sum up our, my feelings as they hold you in the highest regard. Perhaps, to say you have our eternal gratitude summons it all.

I just wanted to get in touch to thank you and the whole team at Oncologica® for the reports you did for my Dad. Despite a very poor prognosis, following the advice in the Oncologica® reports he has been receiving an immunotherapy drug under Dr Fennelly in St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, since the early spring and is now in much better health. The latest scans show a significant reduction in the size of the main tumour and a stagnation in the growth of secondary tumours. He is no longer in significant pain and is able to enjoy day to day life again. Thank you all for your hard work, we really appreciate it.

After being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer my mothers only treatment option on the NHS was chemo therapy. The doctors gave her 6 months without treatment and only 9 with treatment but her quality of life would have been awful if undergoing chemo therapy.

After finding Oncologica® their help, advice and support have been second to none. Their ground breaking analysis and treatment options enabled my mother to undergo immunotherapy which has successfully reduced the size of her tumour and thankfully she is still with us over 2 years later. This would have not been possible without Oncologica®!

Without Oncologica® we do believe that my mother would no longer be with us but through them and their continued support she is still hear and enjoying her life with us and able to watch her grand children grow and play. We cannot thank Oncologica® enough for everything they have done and their continued support and cannot recommend them highly enough.” Many, many thanks from the whole family.

Karan Jensen was diagnosed in 2017, aged 48 with cervical cancer. Karan ordered the Oncofocus® Test to identify additional treatment options and shares her story here in the following Q&A.

How did your diagnosis come about?

I had been having regular smear tests, but then one came back with irregular cells and the doctor asked to see me in 6 months time. We were moving, so I delayed going back, but when I did get to the doctors, they ended up doing a biopsy. Within 2 weeks I was diagnosed with Stage 2B cervical cancer with lymph node involvement.

What happened after you were diagnosed?

Treatment was started to cure my cancer. I had four cycles of chemotherapy plus 32 sessions of radiotherapy.

Did this treatment work?

Unfortunately, the tumour did not change with this type of chemotherapy, so I then started on alternative therapies.

Did the second round of treatment work?

I was meant to have six sessions of this chemotherapy, but after three, I had a scan and found out that the tumour had grown. I was told that there was no point continuing treatment as my cancer was incurable, and to go home and get things in order.

Did you experience any side effects of chemotherapy?

During chemotherapy, I was hospitalised four times with infections and neutropenic sepsis. The chemotherapy also caused swelling of my legs (lymphoedema), and my kidneys had been damaged so that I had to have a nephrostomy bag attached to collect urine.

How did you feel when they told you that you cancer was incurable?

I have an 11-year-old son, so I was not going to give up and did some research online on the best treatments for my cancer.

What did you find searching online?

I found out about the Oncofocus®® cancer test by Oncologica® on their website and got in touch.

Was it easy getting the Oncofocus® test done?

It cost £2000 but it was an easy decision to make. I just had to fill in a few forms and Oncologica® did all the work to get the biopsy from my hospital.

What were the results of the Oncofocus® test?

The test quickly came back that my tumour was exceptionally high in a protein called PD-L1, so it would respond really well to immunotherapy, which works by boosting a person’s immune system to help it recognise and fight cancer cells.

What happened when you knew the results of the test?

The treatment that the test recommended was not available on the NHS so my oncologist contacted Christie Hospital in Manchester, which was part of the PROCLAIM-CX-072 clinical trial that is investigating an experimental drug that targets PD-L1.
I was very sick at this stage, and the doctors were not sure that I would be well enough to get into the trial. As my levels of PD-L1 were so high, however, they thought they had to give me the opportunity.

Was this new treatment successful?

I was meant to have four sessions of CX-072 plus ipilumumab every 3 weeks, plus CX-072 maintenance therapy for a year. Although the treatment was not as bad as chemotherapy and I did not lose any hair, it still made me feel very poorly. After the third session, I developed a bad reaction and the level of some of my white blood cells that fight infection, neutrophils, plummeted and could not be restored to normal. It was therefore too risky to continue the treatment.
The good news was that a scan in March this year showed that the new therapy had reduced the tumour by 50%.

Are you still receiving treatment?

Even though the treatment has stopped, my immune system has taken over and is fighting the tumour. I am scanned every 2 months, and every time my tumour reduces by a further 0.5% to 1%. Last week I had another scan, and it had reduced by 3% and I feel better today than I have over the past 3 years.

What are your thoughts on the Oncofocus® test?

If I had had the test before receiving chemotherapy, this would have saved the NHS a load of money giving me a treatment that did not work and putting me through so much. I continue to need a nephrostomy bag due to the damage done by chemotherapy, which needs changing once a week and the tubes replaced in hospital every 3 months.

What is happening now?

We are now at the ‘watch and wait’ stage. However, as I have had such a good response to the immunotherapy and feel so much better, I can have more treatment if needed in the future. The swelling in my leg has gone down and I can now wear my shoes and move around normally again. I was so sick that I did not think that I would see last Christmas. Now I will get to experience Christmas again this year.

Prof Giovanni Palazzoni

MD

Former Manager of the Centre for antiblastic drug (UFA) preparation, he has delivered ECM courses for nursing staff involved in antiblastic drugs, provided expertise on linear accelerators use and fissile material implants, he has managed a chemotherapy day hospital, Cobalt therapy plant and chemotherapy, biohazard drugs and vaccines which can potentially be fatal. He has managed partially inactivated pathogens, oncological radiotherapy, manipulated antineoplastic agents, run clinical physics lab simulations and managed the digital image processing for therapeutic planning at the Columbus Integrated Complex Gemelli and University Polyclinic Foundation.  He was also an editor of the bestselling book "Seno Buono Seno Cattivo" ie Good Breasts-Bad Breasts in art, illness, and reconstructive surgery.

I was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in March 2018. I started radiotherapy, which worked well. The tumour then started to cause a build up of fluid in my abdomen, which chemotherapy helped to reduce. However, when the first line chemotherapy stopped working after 5 months and then the second line chemotherapy failed to work at all, the fluid returned and I had two stays in hospital to help drain it.

Having exhausted standard therapy and become bedbound, I found out about the Oncofocus® Test from an online search. The overall process from submitting the form to Test results was easy and rapid. The company called to talk me through the process and to explain the results of the Test, and also took care of the logistics of collecting the sample from the hospital. It turned out that I have a rare cancer mutation and was lucky to have had a response at all to the initial chemotherapy.

I had a remarkably effective and rapid response to the drugs that the Test recommended for my cancer mutation. After just 2 weeks of treatment, my abdomen returned to normal size. After 4 weeks of treatment, I was swimming, walking and fully enjoying all that life has to offer again. I am truly grateful for the significant improvement in quality of life I experienced, especially as I had no side effects from the new drugs. The extra months that this gave me meant that I had further quality time with my family and could prepare them better for life without me.

A father of two with terminal cancer has been given new hope after being offered a free pioneering test to help find alternative treatments.

Mick Weldon, 38, from Cambourne, has a rare form of stomach cancer which is resistant to conventional forms of treatment.

In April, the News reported on Mick’s efforts to crowdfund enough money to cover the cost of analysis of new treatments.

After reading his story, Cambridge-based research company Oncologica® approached Mick to offer a ground-breaking test for free.

Mick was first admitted to hospital in December 2015 with a suspected ruptured ulcer, only to be later diagnosed with a cancer that had spread to his abdomen, liver, and surrounding organs.

Doctors found that Mick had a rare subset of Stage 4 GIST stomach cancer called wild type SDH deficient, which is incurable, but could be held at bay by new drugs.

Normally costing around £1,500, Mick under went an Oncofocus® test, which has been developed to detect every mutation linked to every drug and applicable to all tumour types.

Oncologica® claim that the test can identify specific treatment options in 85 to 90 per cent of patients.

Mick’s results show that a certain protein, PDL-1, expressed by his tumours, was acting as a ‘cloaking agent’ and effectively hiding the tumour from his immune system.

He now hopes his crowdfunding efforts will help to finance three cycles of anti-PDL-1 drugs.

“I’ve gone from having no options to a lot of options,” he said. “I’m amazingly positive. I’ve gone from a place where I had no hope to where I have a viable option. We’re all really upbeat.”

Mick hopes new treatments will give him more time to spend with his wife Emma and daughters Charlie, 17, and Rebecca, 15.

He previously said: “No one prepares for their own death, no wife wants to stand by and watch her once proud strong husband slowly degrade, and I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be for two beautiful young ladies to watch the father they have looked up to for as long as they have known slowly slip away.”

If Mick is able to secure the funding for his three cycles of drugs he hopes the evidence gathered will benefit other cancer patients.

“The NHS needs evidence,” he said. “We have to prove these drugs are viable.”

“I’d like to be in a position to start up a database where people can find this information where people can look up their options.”

He also remains realistic about how any new drugs will help his condition, but very thankful to the support of Oncologica®.

“Even if this fails, at least something is being done and I’m not just waiting to die,” Mick said.

“[Oncologica®] are absolutely amazing people. It buoyed me up. Until that point I was coming to the end of conventional treatment.”

Dr Marco Loddo, co-founder and scientific director at Oncologica®, said: “We saw the article and learnt about Mick’s story and in particular that his tumour type was quite rare and found out that he had exhausted all treatment options on the NHS.

“We hoped that we might be able to help with our tests. We’re happy to help.”

Oncologica® is a precision oncology services laboratory and contract research organisation founded in 2014.

Its Oncofocus® test aims to help encourage a move away from toxic non-specific cancer treatments to the use of the new generation of biological anti-cancer agents called targeted therapies.

Targeted therapies specifically hit cancer cells and not the normal cells of the body. They are said to be more effective than chemotherapy because patients are spared severe toxic side effects such as hair loss, infections, anaemia, gut toxicity and fatigue.

Professor Gareth Williams, co-founder and medical director, said: “What we are doing is to optimise the treatment pathway to provide a roadmap and that can have huge benefits for patients. You can avoid all the toxicity issues.”