New data confirms routine utility of Cryoimmunostaining™ for effusion and FNA samples

Dr. Simona Miceska presenting at the 2025 RadEx IOR Boost conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Ljubljana, October 2025 – New clinical data on multiplex Cryoimmunostaining™ took centre stage at an international science conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where digital cytology pioneer X-ZELL featured prominently as part of the RadEx IOR Boost project, an EU-funded initiative advancing radiosensitivity prediction for cancer patients.

In a world-first, the programme included newly presented clinical data from Dr. Simona Miceska, Research Analyst at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana (IOL), who shared key findings from an upcoming study exploring the utility of multiplex Cryoimmunostaining™ on fine-needle aspiration biopsies and effusions in a routine cytopathology laboratory.

As part of the study, Dr. Miceska and her team evaluated the performance of an X-ZELL prototype lung panel against traditional immunocytochemical staining (ICC), and tested multiple upstream preparation methods to ensure compatibility with the local routine workflow. She reported that the multiplex approach demonstrated strong integration potential and delivered results comparable to conventional ICC, describing it as “a genuinely promising tool for multicolor staining in effusion and fine-needle aspiration biopsy samples.”

Building on the theme of next-generation cytopathology, Prof. Dr. Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik, Head of Cytopathology at IOL, shared her team’s extensive experience with X-ZELL’s patented Cryoimmunostaining™ technology. She highlighted the growing clinical importance of ICC on minimally invasive samples such as FNABs and effusions, noting that conventional ICC still suffers from limited standardization, constrained marker capacity, and inconsistent reproducibility across laboratories.

Prof. Kloboves-Prevodnik explained that the Cryoimmunostaining™ workflow – central to the X-ZELL Next Generation Cytology (NGC) platform – now enables her laboratory to stain seven markers per slide under fully standardized fixation and staining conditions. “A major advantage of the Cryoimmunostaining™ workflow is the standardized fixation and staining process, which delivers reproducible results and allows up to seven times more markers per slide,” she said.

As an early adopter under X-ZELL’s 2024 Tech Trial program, Prof. Kloboves-Prevodnik has presented an expanding dataset at the 2024 Hallesches Seminar in Halle (Germany), the 2025 International Congress of Cytology in Florence (Italy), the 2025 European Congress of Pathology in Vienna (Austria), the 2025 Slovenian Congress of Cancer Research in Ljubljana (Slovenia), and the 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Cytopathology in St. Louis (USA) — making her one of the foremost experts on the emerging technology worldwide.

“A major advantage of the workflow is the standardised fixation and staining process, which delivers reproducible results and allows up to seven times more markers per slide.”
Prof. Dr. Veronika Kloboves-Prevodnik

She also shared insights from her work with the independent expert consortium that advised X-ZELL on developing the new Cryophore multiplex antibody panel range, using real-case examples to show how standardized panels can support rapid interpretation and improve diagnostic confidence. She concluded that Cryoimmunostaining represents a versatile ancillary method that can function as a standalone multicolor orientation tool or as a complement to targeted ICC, flow cytometry, or molecular testing.

The conference drew participation from leading institutions including the University of Leicester, Medizinische Universität Wien, UMM Mannheim, and the Institute of Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, underscoring the growing international interest in next-generation cytology and X-ZELL’s role in shaping the field.

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Media Contact
Sebastian Grote
sebastian.g@x-zell.com

About X-ZELL
X-ZELL is an award-winning medical technology company pioneering the field of next-generation cytology. The company’s mission is to transform cancer diagnostics by fusing novel laboratory technology with digital imaging to detect and visualise individual atypical cells in minimally invasive body liquids and digitize them for instant on-screen analysis. Founded by Y Combinator finalist, Dr Sebastian C.P. Bhakdi, X-ZELL was ranked second-most innovative healthcare start-up in the world in 2020 and has since won the coveted MedTech Innovator APAC competition as well as the Abstract Award at the 2021 European Conference of Cytology.

About Cryoimmunostaining™
Cryoimmunostaining™ is a novel immunostaining method utilising proprietary X-ZELL technology to simultaneously apply up to eight diagnostic antibodies on a single microscope slide to maximise diagnostic yield and sample utilisation. The technology platform required to perform Cryoimmunostaining™ is referred to as the Next-Generation Cytology (NGC) platform and includes the relevant laboratory hardware, all relevant reagents and consumables as well as the X-ZELL Hybrid Microscope to enable digital cytopathology in a clinical routine environment.