ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CSI Laboratories, a private national reference laboratory specializing in cancer diagnostics, announced today that construction has begun on the expansion plan that will modify its current operational structure to include a molecular laboratory at the company’s 65,000 square foot facility in Alpharetta, GA (north of Atlanta). The addition of a molecular laboratory comes just three years after CSI opened its state-of-the art facility on Westside Parkway.
The molecular laboratory, being completed in two phases, will be home to the latest diagnostic equipment and testing methods available. Phase one offerings will include some of the most commonly ordered tests: BCR-ABL, Jak2, EGFR, KRAS and BRAF. Phase two offerings will include Next Generation Sequencing as well as multiple “traditional” tests.
This expansion will allow CSI pathologists to maintain control over a patient’s specimen, ensuring that quality-care is delivered with every test ordered. From the moment a specimen enters the building, it is carefully and strategically passed between the appropriate laboratories (Flow Cytometry, Fluorescence in-situ Hybridization, Immunohistochemistry and Cytogenetics) allowing department medical directors to easily confer on the case and assist in guiding any necessary downstream testing. Clients can feel confident that their molecular specimens will be receiving a collaborative approach coupled with CSI’s excellent turn-around-times and medical expertise.
For CSI’s Medical Director, Dr. Lawrence Hertzberg, the addition of a molecular laboratory was a strategic choice that CSI chose to pursue as the advances in medicine continued to bring new options for cancer testing. “Molecular testing is quickly becoming the standard of care in many cases as clinicians are being challenged to diagnose more complex diseases and patients are seeking out more personalized treatment options. In conjunction with our client pathologists and oncologists, molecular testing allows us to more accurately diagnose a patient’s illness, identify genetic factors that can affect treatment responses, and create a therapeutic regime that is more specific.”
The company has planned an aggressive timeline to validate and begin performing the majority of the assays currently sent out to partner laboratories. Phase one molecular offerings by CSI are expected to be available in Q1 of 2015.
About CSI Laboratories
CSI Laboratories is a specialized cancer diagnostic laboratory focused specifically on meeting the unique needs and challenges of pathologists and community hospitals. The company provides diagnostic testing in flow cytometry, cytogenetic analysis, fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), immunohistochemistry, molecular genetics, and consultations in the areas of hematopathology and surgical pathology. CSI Laboratories is a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory located in Alpharetta, GA. CSI Laboratories is independently owned and operated by medical professionals, and has provided expert diagnostic testing to pathologists across the United States since 1997.
