Exiqon has recommended Tecan's HS Pro hybridisation stations for a microarray-based tool used in cancer screening.
The company is using microarray-based microRNA profiling data to develop a molecular tool for the diagnosis of carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) origin, and relies on Tecan's HS 4800 Pro hybridisation stations to automate and standardise processing for product development and routine diagnostic screening.
In around 5 per cent of newly diagnosed metastatic cancers, the site of the primary tumour cannot be determined.
Because effective cancer treatment depends on early identification of the primary tumour, CUP patients often have poor prognoses.
MicroRNAs are good candidates for diagnosing these tumors, as their expression signatures can be used to classify specific cancers.
Dr Carsten Alsbo, product manager at Exiqon, said: 'Our results consistently confirm that our high-affinity miRCURY LNA microRNA arrays, used in conjunction with the HS 4800 Pro hybridisation station, are a very powerful combination for high-quality microRNA expression studies.
'The HS Pro consistently delivers high throughput, reproducible results for our development team and customers.
'Our service division uses seven HS 4800 Pro workstations to provide diagnostic screening services for a range of customers, and these instruments are run at full capacity five days a week.
'Three further HS Pro workstations are used for development of our microarrays and probes.
'These instruments allow us to rapidly standardise complex experimental procedures, particularly for our miRCURY LNA microRNA arrays.'
