STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - (HealthTech Wire / News) - A key global healthcare challenge is the dramatic worldwide increase in cancer incidence. According to World Health Organization data, cancer rates could increase by 50 percent, leading to 15 million new cases in 2020. GE Healthcare, the health business of General Electric (NYSE: GE), showcased today its commitment to strengthening cancer diagnosis and care through its advanced cancer diagnostic and molecular imaging capabilities, as well as its technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and for cancer research.
- GE Healthcare to Invest $1 Billion in New Oncology Solutions
- Expanding advanced cancer diagnostic and molecular imaging capabilities
- Continuing to invest in invention with a focus on better patient outcomes
On display at GE Healthcare’s booth at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress 2011 is an exclusive combination of In-Vivo and In-Vitro diagnostics solutions in the industry today. These comprehensive solutions will offer new insights to help address breast cancer, lung cancer, interventional oncology, radiation oncology & oncology workflow.
GE Healthcare recently announced alongside a GE $100m open innovation challenge, the $1 billion investment crosses all lines of GE Healthcare’s global business, www.healthymagination.com/challenge This is an example of the company’s commitment to helping in the fight against cancer. The investment will enable the company to bring the most promising cancer ideas to market, unleashing technologies that may help improve accuracy of diagnosis to enable more effective treatment decisions and empower doctors and patients with better information.
“Cancer is complex and requires the ability to detect and integrate data from multiple sources,” said Pascale Witz, CEO of GE Healthcare, Medical Diagnostics. “With more information, particularly at the molecular level, we can stratify patients and enable confident medical decisions that will adjust treatment to the individual.”
Oncology specialists connect and interact with each other at various stages throughout the cancer care continuum, all with the goal to provide the best possible care for their cancer patients. Today, GE Healthcare already offers a wide portfolio for oncology and a strategy that combines cellular research, medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and information technology. These innovative technologies help researchers increase their understanding of the causes and progression of cancer and help physicians make more personalized cancer treatment and management decisions, while improving clinical outcomes and accelerating the delivery of care.
Building a ‘Deeper Bench’ of Oncology Expertise
GE Healthcare is seen as a leader in diagnostic imaging for the detection of cancer and as a leading provider of technologies for cancer research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. In recent years, the company has significantly expanded its presence in the oncology arena through strategic acquisitions, including Amersham plc. (2004), Biacore International AB (2006), Wave Biotech LLC (2007), MicroCal LLC (2008), Clarient (2010) and Applied Precision (2011) and a joint venture Omnyx (2009). A recognized pioneer of oncology invention for over 50 years, GE Healthcare continues to research and develop industry-defining technologies. This work is happening at a fast pace across the company, in close collaboration with GE Global Research and through a number of strategic partnerships and alliances.
Investing in Invention
“The only way we can help clinicians beat cancer is to give them the tools to help them find it at an early, stage, and quantitatively measure response to therapy,” said GE Vice President and GE Healthcare Chief Technology Officer Mike Harsh, who oversees GE Healthcare’s global research and development efforts. “The integration of GE Healthcare’s expertise in imaging, analytics, diagnostics, cellular analysis, and healthcare IT is helping create technologies and solutions that can be used in a rural developing country or in a modern urban hospital.”
New in breast cancer diagnostics:
According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, comprising 16 percent of all female cancers. GE Healthcare is showcasing multiple new innovations around breast cancer screening and diagnosis at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer congress 2011 in Stockholm.
- In-Vivo diagnostics: SenoBright*, its unique imaging method combines digital mammography, low and high energy x-rays and a common contrast agent to highlight lesions through contrast visualization. SenoBright helps radiologists localize a known or suspected lesion. As of September 2011, SenoBright has been installed in care centers across Europe and Asia. SenoBright is currently pending 510(k) clearance at the U.S. FDA, and not available for sale in the U.S. Another In-Vivo diagnostic is Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI), a gamma camera dedicated for breast imaging based on accumulation of a radioactive tracer in hypermetabolic cancer cells. This technology is intended to improve early detection in women who are at high risk for developing breast cancer, or in women with dense breasts who are less likely to benefit from conventional mammography. Digital breast tomosynthesis (dbt), a newer method to provide a detailed 3D image of the breast to help avoid tissue overlap, which can hide small cancers, and can be a limiting factor in standard 2D mammography today.
- In-Vitro diagnostics: Mammostrat, is a five biomarker immunohistochemistry test that estimates the risk of breast cancer recurrence in hormone receptor positive, early stage breast cancer that is independent of proliferation or grade.
New in lung cancer diagnostics:
According to the WHO in 2010, cancer became number one killer overcoming death rates from cardiovascular disease. Among all cancers, lung cancer is the number one killer worldwide due to late detection. In November 2010, the initial findings from the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) were released. These findings reveal that participants who received low-dose helical CT scans had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than participants who received standard chest X-rays. GE Healthcare’s lung cancer solutions include 3 main innovations:
- ASiR* & VEO*: Newest low dose technology through a revolutionary modeling technique that may enable you to lower the dose whilst maintaining a high quality scan.
- VolumeRAD, a 3D chest x-ray tomosynthesis, offering a multislice chest imaging to remove overlying structures, enabling better lung cancer early nodule detection.
- Pulmotype, a new immunohistochemistry assay that uses 5 antibodies to aid in the classification of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSLC).
Interventional oncology: With cancer patients living longer, cancer minimal invasive surgery is becoming substantial, as every cancer patient seeks a better quality of life.
Tumors in the liver are fed by small arteries. The liver arterial tree is a highly complex 3D structure. Navigating guide wires and catheters to a precise target through the vessels that travel to it can be difficult and time consuming. Even identifying the vessels can take significant time, radiation exposure and contrast material. GE Healthcare’s breakthrough, FlightPlan for Liver, is a powerful 3D application that helps the interventional oncologist/ radiologist to plan and perform liver embolization. According to the same studyii, FlightPlan achieved a high degree of success – approximately 93 percent, in detecting feeder vessels.
Connecting Your Oncology Team With Applications…Anywhere
New technologies generate more sophisticated and detailed information that is used throughout the care cycle, requiring clinicians to utilize different workstations and applications. For caregivers/ clinicians, this translates to a more complex workflow for processing, connecting, and collaborating across the continuum of oncology care.
MD Connect is a new, innovative thin client solution designed for oncology that addresses the need for a seamless workflow from scan to plan and monitoring treatment effectiveness to help improve productivity across the cancer care continuum. Powered by the GE AW Server, it enables plug-and-play access via virtually any networked computer to the complete suite of oncology applications from any location or department.
Come visit GE’s booth at C08 38 & C08 40 at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress 2011, the most attended multidisciplinary oncology forum in Europe, gathering more than 15,000 oncologists, held in Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm, Sweden from September 23-27, 2011.
###
Source: GE Healthcare
