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fiannotti@planningsource.comMEDIA ALERT FOR OCTOBER 14, 2009
AAOMS 91st Annual Meeting in Toronto Oct. 15-17 Offers Opportunity for Identafi 3000 Ultra Demo – World's First/Only "Multispectral" Oral Cancer Detection Device Developed by Joint U.S.-Canadian Cancer Research Team
TORONTO, Oct. 14, 2009 — The 91st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) welcomes exhibitors Thursday, Oct. 15 through Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.
AAOMA|CAOMS 91st Annual Meeting
http://www.aaoms.org/annual_meeting/2009/
The event is co-sponsored by CAOMS (Canadian Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons). Visit CAOMS at www.caoms.com and AAOMS at www.aaoms.org.
On hand will be Trimira® LLC's Identafi® 3000 ultra oral cancer detection device — the world's most powerful and accurate screening tool for revealing signs of oral cancer and pre-cancer. Demonstrations of the device are available by appointment with Trimira VP Jerry S. Trzeciak (cell: 281-793-3038), who is attending the event.
Trimira®'s booth is #2228 on the North Exhibit Level 300 (Halls A, B, and C).
Trzeciak noted that Identafi® 3000 ultra is a next-generation imaging tool unlike any other. "It changes the diagnostic landscape," he said. "It's expressly designed for oral surgeons, dentists, periodontists, otolaryngologists, and primary-care physicians."
Identafi® 3000 ultra, which was developed in collaboration with research scientists at British Columbia Cancer Research Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Rice University, is now available through Canadian and U.S. distributors and dealers.
Identafi® 3000 ultra is the first and only device to employ the new three-wavelength, or "multispectral," optical auto-fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy developed over 15 years and at a cost of $30 million and patented by Trimira®.
Oral cancer kills one person, every hour, every day, Trzeciak observed.
"Oral cancer is typically detected by a doctor, not a dentist, by which time it is usually a late-stage diagnosis," he said. "In fact, 40 percent of those diagnosed with oral cancer will be dead in five years and 78 percent diagnosed with Stage IV, late-stage cancer will be dead in five years. Early detection of oral cancer would improve the survival rate to 80 to 90 percent." He noted that fewer than 15 percent of those who visit a dentist get screened regularly; rarely is the best available technology used.
"When you look at the five-year mortality rate for oral cancer, it's scary," Trzeciak said. "Oral cancer is more deadly than the more familiar cancers: breast, cervical, and prostate, and also more deadly than liver, kidney, thyroid, or colon cancers."
He noted that oral cancer is growing at double-digit rates, despite declines in alcohol and tobacco use. That is due to HPV-16 and -18 spread through all forms of sex, but particularly oral sex. For that reason, oral cancer is increasingly showing up in the young adult population. The fastest-growing group is females in their forties.
HPV oral cancer lesions occur mainly in the back of the throat, base of the tongue, and tonsillar pillars. Hence the need for a device that reliably, inexpensively, and quickly pinpoints oral cancer and pre-cancer that is not visible to the naked eye.
"It's clear that traditional techniques of visual or tactile examination are inadequate," Trzeciak said. "What's also clear is that a new device delivering a new standard of care was needed. That device needed to incorporate the latest detection technology, be affordable, portable, cordless, easy to use, and accurate. That device needed to slash false positives and negatives. That device is Trimira®'s Identafi® 3000 ultra."
Identafi® 3000 ultra enables the user to detect biochemical and morphological changes in cells of the mouth, throat, tongue, and tonsils, and get real-time results.
Identafi® 3000 ultra is a quantum leap in the visualization of mucosal abnormalities, including oral cancer or premalignant dysplasia. The technology is diagnostic in screening for oral cancers but also will be applied to diagnose cervical, skin, bladder, and gastrointestinal cancers. Unlike other methods, Identafi® 3000 ultra empowers health professionals to pinpoint biochemical and morphological changes in cells.
Houston-based Trimira® is venture capital-funded by Dallas-based long-time cancer research philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, of oil and windfarming fame.
About Trimira LLC
Trimira® LLC is a subsidiary of Remicalm® LLC, a privately held medical device and optical imaging company. Other subsidiaries are working on screening and diagnostic devices for skin, cervical, gastrointestinal, and bladder cancers. Remicalm®, as the parent company, has licensed exclusive use of certain of its patents and patents pending for use as a cervical cancer product to be later expanded to include additional epithelial-based cancers. Remicalm®'s core technologies are based on high-speed, high-resolution capabilities from its patented optical processing technology platforms and include the ability to read metabolic and physiologic differences in diseased and healthy tissue in the human body.
Visit Trimira® at: http://www.trimira.net/
Animations
Identafi® Technology
Identafi® 3000 ultra Process
Screening Results
Training
