February 27, 2009: CombiMatrix Corp. (Nasdaq: CBMX) has announced positive preliminary data on its investigational Comprehensive Cancer Array (CCA) test showing it can noninvasively screen for the early detection of cancer, the company announced in a news release.

The study focused on prostate, colon, ovarian, breast and lung cancers because they comprise roughly 85% of all solid tumors in the US, the company said.

Preliminary data using serum from cancer-free patients and patients with cancer at various stages (stage 1 to stage 4) were presented. CombiMatrix used a comprehensive micro RNA (miRNA, a recently discovered type of nucleic acid) array built on its CustomArray platform to perform this study. The study’s key demonstration was that the miRNA expression patterns, in blood, for patients with cancer (including early stage 1) were dramatically different from patients who were cancer-free.

The resulting analysis indicated that a clear distinction could be made between patients with cancer and those without. Results also indicated that identification of the specific cancer was possible.

Further data from this and other studies will be presented in the coming months.

The study, titled Detection of Cancer with Serum miRNAs on an Oligonucleotide Microarray” (PDF 1.1MB), was presented as a poster by Dominic Suciu, senior scientist at CombiMatrix.