Beckman Coulter Inc has received clearance from the FDA for the Access® GI monitor to aid in the management of pancreatic cancer. The new test is designed for the quantitative determination of cancer antigen (CA) 19-9 levels in human serum and plasma. It produces test results in less than 24 minutes and uses 10µL of sample for each test.
     High levels of CA 19-9 antigen are typically associated with more advanced pancreatic cancer. Total imprecision is less than 10% over the range of the assay, while calibration stability is 56 days. The test’s ready-to-use liquid calibrators are stable from 2° to 10°C until the expiration date.
     The Access GI monitor is available on Beckman Coulter’s Access and Access 2 immunoassay systems as well as its UniCel DxI 800 Access immunoassay system, which can perform as many as 400 tests per hour. In addition, Access GI Monitor is available on the SYNCHRON LX®I 725 clinical system, which combines chemistry and immunoassay analysis technology with data management and automated sample handling on a single instrument.

Beckman Coulter
(714) 993-8329; www.beckman.com