Melville medical practice using 'error-proof' cancer biopsy system

A Melville medical practice says it has begun using a new, DNA-based safety system that helps eliminate the possibility that patients’ cancer biopsy samples could go astray. 

The medical practice is Integrated Medical Professionals Plc, with offices in Nassau County and western Suffolk County. It's now using the “know error” system, produced by Diagnostic ID Llc., which “provides DNA confirmation between you and your biopsy tissue samples ensuring that, when your biopsy results arrive, the results belong to you.” 

The system’s testing sequence includes a comparison of short tandem repeat, or STR, profiles of both the patient and the biopsy sample cells.  

The error-elimination system is designed for prostate and breast cancer biopsy samples. 

“Before a biopsy procedure, a reference sample of the patient's DNA is taken by swabbing the inside of the patient's cheek. The swab is sent to an independent forensic DNA lab,” the company said. 

If biopsy results come back positive, DNA from the biopsy is double-checked against DNA from the patient cheek swab.