Santa Clara, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) April 04, 2011
Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) today announced at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 102nd Annual Meeting 2011 in Orlando, Florida, the launch of its second-generation OncoScan FFPE Express platform (formerly MIP Copy Number Service). OncoScan FFPE Express 2.0 offers enhanced coverage of tumor suppressors and oncogenes and provides the same proven performance as the previous-generation OncoScan technology.
Designed in collaboration with members of the cancer research Dream Teams formed by the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) initiative, OncoScan FFPE Express 2.0 overcomes the challenge of analyzing DNA from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues to extract important retrospective clinical data from archived samples. OncoScan FFPE Express 2.0 goes beyond limitations of standard array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) methods to yield copy number, allelic ratio, and somatic mutation data from only 75 nanograms (ng) of input DNA, the lowest sample tolerance available. In addition, it provides the highest quality data, as demonstrated by greater than 92 percent pass rates across thousands of the most degraded and challenging FFPE samples.
We collaborated with world-renowned cancer experts to design a solution specifically to meet the needs of the cancer community, said Andy Last, Chief Commercial Officer at Affymetrix. OncoScan FFPE Express 2.0 is powerful because it unlocks the full potential of millions of archived FFPE samples and is the only technology that links integrated data of copy number, allelic ratio, and somatic mutations with clinical data from these archived resources.
The OncoScan FFPE Express Service has been successfully used by more than 30 leading cancer research institutes, including the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the University of California, San Francisco, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.
Previous studies have indicated that genomic instability is associated with tumor grade, tumor development, and disease progression. Because this technology provides an integrated approach, including the broadest linear dynamic range, researchers can evaluate risk factors associated with the early stages of cancer and disease relapse with a more comprehensive view of the genome.
OncoScan FFPE Express 2.0 will be available exclusively through Affymetrix