OREANDA-NEWS. December 06, 2012. GE Healthcare, the healthcare division of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) is working to help physicians potentially improve patient care throughout the breast cancer journey through one of the most comprehensive portfolios of technologies in the industry available today. While at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS 2012), taking place in San Antonio from December 5-7, GE Healthcare will provide attendees with an overview of its innovative breast cancer solutions for healthcare practitioners. These innovations, which range from screening to diagnosis, then to staging, treatment planning and monitoring, recently received Frost & Sullivan's 2012 breast imaging product line strategy award for North America for having the most comprehensive portfolio and may have a transformational impact on breast cancer care delivery.

Visitors to the GE Healthcare booth (#225) at SABCS 2012 will also be able to speak with GE Healthcare experts and executives about its commitment to innovative patient-focused solutions. GE Healthcare is also sponsoring a presentation and panel discussion entitled “Enabling More Confident Decisions for Breast Cancer Treatment” on Thursday, December 6 at 2:00pm at the Product Theatre in the Exhibit Hall of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Speakers and topics include:

• Mammostrat – A Breast Cancer Recurrence Assay – Tamoxifen versus Exemestane Adjuvant Multicenter (TEAM) Trial Update - John M.S. Bartlett, MD, Director of Transformative Pathology at Ontario Institute of Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Discordance in HER2 Testing in Metastatic Breast Cancer – VIRGO Trial Update - Edith Perez, MD, Deputy Director at Large, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

• New Updates and Advances in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) - Craig Allred, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, Washington University School of Medicine

Additionally, results from three GE Healthcare-sponsored studies will be presented at SABCS 2012:

• Presentation P2-10-04 -The Mammostrat Test is an Effective Tool to Stratify Patient Samples Previously Characterized as Intermediate by the Oncotype Dx Test – Thursday, December 6, 7:00 – 9:00am, Hall A-B

• Presentation P3-05-05 - HER2 Expression and Gene copy analysis by Immunofluorescence and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization, on a Single formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue section – Thursday, December 6, 5:00-7:00pm, Hall A-B

• Presentation P3-05-06 - Automated Analysis of Her2 FISH Using Combined Immunofluorescence and FISH Signals – Thursday, December 6, 5:00-7:00pm, Hall A-B


“With a disease as complex and multi-faceted as breast cancer, innovations need to be equally multi-faceted and even more integrated in their scope, and GE Healthcare is fully committed to developing solutions that enable physicians to improve the quality of care provided to the patients they treat,” said Carrie Eglinton-Manner, CEO, Clarient Diagnostic Services, a GE Healthcare company. “The studies presented at SABCS in addition to the information being shared at the product theater are further demonstration of that commitment.”


A commitment to cancer

In November, GE Healthcare acquired U-Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of ultrasound products specifically designed for breast applications and its somo•v® Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS). The somo•v® Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) is the first & only ultrasound product with FDA approval for screening of breast cancer as an adjunct to mammography. The addition of this technology is a reflection of GE’s healthymagination commitment through its global impact on women’s health and ability to contribute to saving lives.

With the acquisition, GE Healthcare is uniquely positioned to offer U.S. healthcare providers and their patients the most comprehensive portfolio of breast care innovations on the market. In addition to digital mammography and breast magnetic resonance, GE can now offer breast screening ultrasound ABUS technology to our customers to help in early detection - which provides for more treatment options.

In addition to its products and services, which demonstrate GE Healthcare’s commitment to innovative, patient-focused solutions, GE Healthcare recently announced the launch of ‘Give a Little Beat’, a musical initiative and a first in the healthcare industry, to connect people in the fight against breast cancer through the power of music and social media. By visiting www.givealittlebeat.com, users will be able to share and listen to songs from the online GE Healthcare’s Jukebox, powered by Spotify, the leading digital music service, in support of breast cancer patients and to raise awareness about the disease. People can participate by visiting www.givealittlebeat.com or the ‘Give a Little Beat’ Facebook App. Songs will be also shared through Twitter, and other social media platforms, with the #BCMBeats hashtag.

This ongoing initiative supplements the recent campaign announced by GE Healthcare to mobilize thousands of GE employees to form 'Human Ribbons' and visually demonstrate the global fight against the disease during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It also reinforces the messages posted on GE’s Breast Cancer Mosaic, a dedicated site created to share stories from breast cancer survivors, family members and healthcare professionals to increase awareness around the disease and to inspire those who are going through a difficult time.

About GE’s healthymagination Initiative

Launched in May 2009, GE’s healthymagination is a USD 6 billion global commitment to provide better health for more people by improving quality, access and affordability. GE has committed that by 2015 it will:

• Invest USD 6 billion in research and development and financing to launch at least 100 innovations that will help deliver better care to more people at lower cost.

• Reach 100 million more people every year with services and technologies essential for health.

• Partner with GE employees and their families around the world to help them live and work in the healthiest way possible, decrease health-related absences, and strive to limit the growing cost of health care.

More information is available at www.healthymagination.com.

About Clarient Diagnostic Services, Inc.
Clarient Diagnostic Services, Inc. - a GE Healthcare Company - is a leading provider of comprehensive, cancer–diagnostic laboratory services. With its advanced technologies, Clarient is able to provide pathologists and oncologists with more accurate and detailed information to better characterize and assess cancer, which can lead to more accurate diagnoses and more effective treatment. In addition, Clarient’s services are finding more efficient ways to reduce the cost as well as accelerating the drug development process to identify and develop treating pharmaceuticals that can result in better outcomes for patients.

From its state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory to its Internet-based PATHSiTE®, Clarient delivers advanced oncology diagnostic services to pathologists, oncologists, hospitals and biopharmaceutical companies throughout the U.S. Clarient also is developing proprietary companion diagnostic tests for therapeutics in breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers, as well as leukemia/lymphoma.