Northstar Origin™
Same blood draw. Even more to see.
Bringing clarity to unknown and ambiguous tumor origins.
Top-3 accuracy in identifying tissue of origin1
Northstar Origin is an add-on test to Northstar Select that predicts tissue of origin directly from circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Northstar Origin gives physicians a highly accurate, molecular signal in cases where the primary tumor is ambiguous or unknown – all from the same blood sample used for therapy selection.
What is tissue of origin?
Tissue of origin is the specific organ or tissue where a cancer originated. For patients with advanced or metastatic disease, identifying a cancer's origin can help guide the right, site-specific treatment.
Clarity that complements clinical judgement
When the tissue of origin is uncertain, treatment decisions become more challenging. An incorrect assignment can lead to suboptimal therapy selection, unnecessary toxicity, delays in initiating the most appropriate treatment, or additional diagnostic procedures. Tissue-based methods for resolving these cases may also be limited by the amount or quality of available biopsy material, particularly in patients who have undergone multiple biopsies or have tumors in anatomically inaccessible locations.
Northstar Origin is not intended to replace pathology. However, in some cases, standard pathology and imaging workup cannot identify a definitive tumor source with confidence. Northstar Origin provides a prediction that is interpreted alongside histopathology, immunohistochemistry, imaging, and the broader clinical picture. For patients with cancers of uncertain or ambiguous origin, that additional source of evidence can increase diagnostic confidence and help inform the next clinical step.
How Northstar Origin™ works
As a seamless add-on to Northstar Select, Northstar Origin fits into existing workflows, resolving uncertainty around tissue of origin.
What clinicians receive
Confident molecular signal
enabling tissue of origin prediction for ambiguous or unknown-primary cases
Clarity that complements pathology
interpreted alongside imaging and histology, not as a standalone call
Fast results
delivered from the same blood draw, within 5-8 days on average
Seamless delivery
of Northstar Origin results as part of the Northstar Select Report
Download Helpful Resources
Cooper, R., et al. Abstract, 6th Binaytara Precision Oncology Summit, 2026. BillionToOne data on file.
Spurgeon L, Mitchell C, Cook N, Conway A-M. Cancer of unknown primary: the hunt for its elusive tissue-of-origin – is it time to call off the search? Br J Cancer. 2025;133:733-742. doi:10.1038/s41416-025-03073-7
BillionToOne qualitative physician research, 2025–2026.
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