SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Jul 29, 2013) - Atossa Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATOS), The Breast Health Company, today announces its support for the fact that North Carolina has become the 12th state to pass a dense breast notification law, HB 467, the Breast Density Notification & Awareness bill. The bill was signed by Gov. Pat McRoy on July 23, 2013, and will become effective on January 1, 2014.

Dense breast notification legislation requires that women who are found through mammography to have dense breasts must be notified of this fact. Twelve states including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia have enacted such legislation. Similar dense breast measures have been introduced or advanced in many other states. At the federal level, the Breast Density and Reporting Act of 2011 (HR 3102) was introduced in the previous Congress in October 2011 by Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Representative Steve Israel (D-NY).

"Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc. and its supporters are working tirelessly on behalf of women to advance dense breast legislative initiatives at the state and federal levels," said Dr. Steven Quay, Chairman, CEO & President of Atossa Genetics and inventor of theForeCYTEBreast Health Test for breast cancer risk assessment. "This latest legislative victory is an important step forward in protecting women's health. The need for dense breast notification laws is strongly supported by data indicating that mammograms have greater difficulty spotting tumors in dense breast tissue and that women with dense breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer. We continue to support Are You Dense Advocacy and its efforts to enact dense breast notification laws in the remaining 38 states and at the national level."

In January 2013, Atossa launched the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test. This test analyzes cells from the linings of the milk ducts and lobules, where approximately 95 percent of breast cancers arise, in order to identify pre-cancerous changes that confer an increased risk of breast cancer. Atossa believes that its test is advantageous for women in general, and particularly for women with dense breasts, since dense breast tissue does not affect ForeCYTE's ability to collect and analyze cells from the breast.

"We believe that women ages 18 to 73, including women with dense breasts, should take the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test in order to gain valuable and potentially life-saving information about their breast health status. By identifying women at high risk for breast cancer through scientific means and intervening with lifestyle changes or therapeutic interventions, we believe the incidence of breast cancer can be significantly reduced, just as cervical cancer rates have fallen dramatically since the introduction of the Pap smear," Dr. Quay added.

A peer-reviewed study of 2,712 women age 25 to 65 years showed a strong association between increased breast density and cytological atypia of nipple aspirate fluid, the specimen collected by the ForeCYTE Test. The authors concluded, "Particularly in premenopausal women, the identification of women at increased risk of breast cancer might be enhanced using nipple aspiration." M M Lee, N L Petrakis, M R Wrensch, et al. "Association of abnormal nipple aspirate cytology and mammographic pattern and density." Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 3:33-36.

Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc. is the government relations affiliate of Are You Dense, Inc., an independent, national breast health advocacy organization dedicated to informing the public about dense breast tissue and its significance for the early detection of breast cancer. Are You Dense, Inc. was founded by Nancy M. Capello, Ph.D., who was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in February 2004 after receiving "normal" mammography reports for a decade.

For additional information on breast cancer risk, including the risks associated with dense breasts, please visit the Breast Cancer Overview page on the American Cancer Society's website at http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/overviewguide/.

About the ForeCYTE Breast Health Test

The ForeCYTE Breast Health Test, intended for the 110 million women in the U.S. ages 18 to 73, is a painless, quick and non-invasive procedure that can be done in a physician's office. A small sample of fluid, aspirated from the nipple of each breast with the Company's modified breast pump, can provide vital early detection of cancer or pre-cancerous conditions that may progress to cancer over an approximately eight year period and before cancer can be detected by mammography or other means and without the risks of radiation, especially in women younger than age 50. No invasive biopsy needles or open surgical incisions are used in the Atossa test and the test is painless.

Read more:
Statement on New Dense Breast Notification Law in North Carolina From Atossa Genetics

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