[1][2][3] It is a noninvasive test performed on small amounts of tissue removed during the original surgery lumpectomy, mastectomy, or core biopsy.
According to recent studies, quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) can be applied to the standardization of protein analysis, resulting in increased sensitivity and reproducibility.
[6] It is important to be able to quantitate the expression of predictive factors in breast cancer, because response to therapy is often dependent upon the concentration of particular proteins within the tissue.
An algorithm was developed to process and analyze the digital images allowing direct relation between the amount of a specific protein within the cancer cells of the tumor and response to the corresponding drug.
The use of DirectHit could result in significant cost savings because physicians will be able to customize treatment regimens for patients, eliminating ineffective drugs that would have otherwise been prescribed If a 50% treatment failure rate is assumed for standard chemotherapy, then the use of the DirectHit Test Panel for Breast Cancer could result in potential savings of approximately $466M in drug costs alone for 40,000 late stage cancer patients in the United States.