BioVitrum partner news: NanoString's ProSigna entered the top 10 scientific innovations in 2013 by the magazine The Scientist for the diagnosis of breast cancer.

In The Scientist magazine's medical TOP-10 pubished it's first list in the areas of genetics, biology and general medicine. NanoString's ProSigna system, established in February 2013, took 4th place in the top 10. ProSigna from NanoString provides detailed forecasts for breast cancer patients to avoid overly aggressive treatments. NanoString analysis determines a patient's risk of developing breast cancer by studying the gene expression profile of patient tumor cells. Alex Prat, a physician and researcher in Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, ​​uses this analysis to identify patients who might be treated without chemotherapy or radiation, if they respond positively to endocrine therapy. This analysis can determine the true biological tumor subtype and it is the only test system of this kind that they use, says Pratt. In addition, it captures more biological information than a set of three to four pathologically based biomarkers that are currently used in the clinic.

Brad Grey, CEO of NanoString Seattle, says that other genomic tests may make such assessments, but NanoString's technology is simple enough to use in the clinic, not a specialized scientific lab. The company plans to introduce this analysis in the United States in 2014.  
The full article can be found on the journal's website The Scientist.