Quest Diagnostics Inc. has introduced its newly developed test, the Breast Cancer Gene Expression Ratio, to help physicians predict the risk of disease recurrence in women with estrogen receptor-positive, lymph node-negative breast cancer. Quest Diagnostics is the first company to develop a breast cancer recurrence test based on licensed gene-expression profiling technology from AviaraDx Inc., a molecular cancer profiling company.

Expression of two different proteins taken from primary tumor biopsies is highly associated with the spread of breast cancer to nearby lymph nodes, according to a new study. Researchers say this protein profile could help identify at an early stage those patients whose disease is likely to metastasize.

December 14, 2006 - GE Healthcare released the results of a customer survey showing that nearly all users of the company’s Life Support Systems would recommend GE to their peers, and that more than nine out of 10 would purchase those services again in the future.

For the first time, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has included hyperthermia therapy and radiation as combination treatments in its 2007 Breast Cancer Guidelines for recurrent cancer of the chest wall and other localized cancer recurrences.

Patients with an intermediate likelihood of coronary artery disease can benefit from both multislice computed tomography and myocardial perfusion imaging, as the two technologies offer diagnostic information that is different from but complementary to one another, a new study concludes.

The findings support integration of the technologies, researchers in the Netherlands conclude in the study that appears in the Dec. 19, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Several CT manufacturers are already reportedly developing hybrid imaging machines.