GE also presented the outcome of its cancer research with Eli Lilly and Company, which resulted in the development of a tissue-based biomarker technology that for the first time can simultaneously map more than 25 proteins in tumors at the sub-cellular level.

"In cancer treatment, information is one of the most powerful tools that a doctor has at his disposal," said Richard Gaynor, vice president of cancer research and clinical investigation for Lilly Research Laboratories. "By identifying multiple biomarkers on a cell by cell basis, physicians will be able to make more informed choices on therapies to prescribe, as well as therapies to avoid, based on a patient's specific type of cancer."

Officials said the new technology has been tested successfully on colon and prostate cancer tissue samples and is believed to be applicable to all types of cancer.

GE and Lilly representatives also announced plans to extend their research agreement to include the study of four Lilly oncology molecules that are currently in the company's development pipeline. While the technology is expected to help in the analysis of all cancers, they said, the two companies will perform specific investigations in breast, ovarian, lung and possibly gastric cancers.