Precipio ICE COLD-PCR Technology Selected by the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for Liquid Biopsy Study

Specialty cancer diagnostics company Precipio (NASDAQ:PRPO) announced that its ICE COLD-PCR (ICP) technology has been selected for a screening study to identify clinically actionable mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

As quoted in the press release:

The study will focus on utilizing ICP mutation enrichment along with High Resolution Melt Analysis (HRM) screening technology to screen actionable mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) for NSCLC. Patients who are found to be EGFR-negative do not need to proceed to confirmatory testing, which uses the attractive unique feature of ICP combined with HRM. Patients who are positive for an EGFR mutation via HRM will then have their ICP-enriched sample tested for two key EGFR resistance mutations: T790M and C797S via real-time PCR (RT-PCR). The initial study will include 20 patients with a plan to publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal. Pending the results of this study, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center intends to offer the assays examined in this study in a clinical setting.

“Our goal is to use Precipio’s ICP technology to quickly identify patients who are negative for EGFR mutations and then move only those patients who are positive to downstream molecular testing with RT-PCR,” said Dr. Kurt B. Hodges, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Primary Investigator of the study. “Identifying patients with clinically actionable mutations in NSCLC as quickly as possible and then monitoring these patients for responses to commonly prescribed NSCLC therapeutics is critical for precision medicine.”

Click here to read the full press release.