According to the American Cancer Society, cervical cancer is the second most common form of cancer in women in the world, affecting more than 500,000 women yearly. While the traditional Pap smear has helped to decrease substantially the cervical cancer death rate, a significant number of women with cervical dysplasia still develop cervical cancer, resulting in 11,000 newly diagnosed cases and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year, thus making additional cervical screening methods critical.

In response to this, Ikonisys, a leading provider of next-generation, cell-based diagnostic solutions, announced the launch of its clinically validated, novel cervical cancer test, oncoFISH® cervical. Used in conjunction with the company's proprietary CellOptics® platform, a robotic microscopy system, oncoFISH cervical provides the physician, while still adhering to current practice guidelines, with an assessment of risk of progression of low grade dysplasia to cancer of the cervix. oncoFISH cervical will be offered as a laboratory developed test through Ikonisys' licensed CAP-accredited Clinical Laboratory.

"We are very pleased to introduce our first rare-cell based test, supported by Ikonisys' proprietary CellOptics platform, the foundation for all of our next-generation diagnostic tests," said Dr. Petros Tsipouras, Ikonisys CEO and chairman in a release on its website. "Through our novel tests and unique ability to provide intelligent, digital pathology, Ikonisys is undoubtedly advancing the practice of medicine. Not only are we providing patients and physicians early and accurate detection, but we're helping them to realize the promise of personalized medicine by enabling practitioners to provide the appropriate treatment based on individual risk."
Through its breakthrough CellOptics platform, Ikonisys is developing a stream of proprietary and non-proprietary tests based on the detection of rare cells in a practical, efficient and economical manner. In addition to simply presenting cell images to the laboratory technologist, the platform analyzes the cells, offering an interpretation, while simultaneously allowing the pathologist to concur or override the analysis. Ikonisys will be initiating clinical trials on oncoFISH cervical for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.

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