Author of Nationwide, NIH-Sponsored Study Endorses Microarray Testing as Preferred Standard of Care for Pre-Natal Testing 4,400-Patient Study Reveals That Chromosomal Microarray Testing Identifies a Significantly Greater Number of Genetic Disorders Than Standard Karyotyping
CombiMatrix Corporation (Nasdaq: CBMX - News), a molecular diagnostics company performing DNA-based testing services for cancer and developmental disorders, today announced that one of the nation's leading clinicians in the field of reproductive genetics has called for chromosomal microarray testing to replace karyotyping, the historic practice, as the standard of care for prenatal testing. CombiMatrix is one of the few independent companies that specialize in chromosomal microarray testing (CMA), the primary genetic test to evaluate newborns with birth defects but has not routinely been used for prenatal testing.
Ronald Wapner, M.D., director of Reproductive Genetics at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Vice Chairman of research and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, led the first head-to-head study comparing CMA to karyotyping in 4,400 patients at 34 medical centers nationwide. Based on the data, Dr. Wapner and his collaborators concluded that testing of the fetal chromosomes using CMA provides a significantly increased detection rate about potential disorders than karyotyping.
The study was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - part of the National Institutes of Health.
"Why would anyone want to continue to use the standard method, which gives only part of the answer?" Dr. Wapner said in a statement published by New York-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center. He added that the transition to the new technology should be controlled, as physicians and patients will need to be better educated about the use of CMA before it can be fully adopted into clinical practice.
CMA provides "significantly more clinically relevant information" and can identify chromosomal disorders associated with such things as intellectual disability, birth defects or autism spectrum disorders that are missed by karyotyping, Dr. Wapner concluded.
Judd Jessup, President and CEO of CombiMatrix, said, "Dr. Wapner's seminal, nationwide study demonstrates conclusively that microarray testing can allow expectant parents to better understand the potential impacts of genetics on their child than the standard karyotyping test that has been used for decades. For parents, this test can take much of the guess work out of child rearing and could eventually give parents and educators better tools for predicting and proactively addressing the impacts of many genetic conditions."
Jessup continued, "We are grateful for the commitment of the researchers and their sponsors who made this exhaustive study possible and view this and other ongoing research activity in both developmental and cancer diagnostics as affirmation that our aCGH Microarray technology is rapidly becoming a critical valuable tool across several medical specialties."
Dr. Wapner presented the study data at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine on Thursday, Feb. 9. The study abstract has been published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a comprehensive paper detailing the study's many findings will be submitted for publication in as little as three months.
About CombiMatrix Corporation
CombiMatrix Corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiary, CombiMatrix Diagnostics ("CMDX"), is a CAP/CLIA certified molecular diagnostics laboratory offering comprehensive profiling of chromosomes and genes for both oncology and pre- and postnatal developmental disorders. CombiMatrix Diagnostics offers a comprehensive and proprietary analysis of cancer tumors at the DNA, or molecular level. CombiMatrix was the first commercial clinical laboratory in the United States to make comprehensive DNA-based genomic analysis of solid tumors, including breast, colon, lung, prostate and brain tumors, available to oncology patients and medical professionals. CombiMatrix also offers pre- and postnatal testing services for the detection of abnormalities of genes at the DNA level beyond what can be identified through traditional technologies. Additional information about CombiMatrix Corporation is available at [url=http://www.combimatrix.com/]www.combimatrix.com[/url]. Additional information about CMDX is available at [url=http://www.cmdiagnostics.com/]www.cmdiagnostics.com[/url] or by calling 1-800-710-0624.
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