further , our proprietary blood collection tubes , or bcts , which allow for the intact transport of liquid biopsy samples for research use only , or ruo , from regions around the world , are anticipated to be sold to laboratory supply distributors commencing in 2018. our revenue generating efforts are focused in three areas : medical oncologists , surgical oncologists , pulmonologists , pathologists and other physicians who use the biomarker information we provide in order to determine the best treatment plan for their patients ; providing laboratory services utilizing both our ctc and ctdna testing in order to help pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies developing drug candidate therapies to treat cancer ; and licensing and or selling our proprietary testing and or technologies to partners in the united states and abroad . 64 assays , products and services we have commercialized our target-selector assays for a number of solid tumor indications such as : breast cancer , non-small cell lung cancer , or nsclc , gastric cancer , colorectal cancer , prostate cancer , melanoma , pancreaticobiliary cancer , and ovarian cancer . these assays utilize our dual ctc and ctdna technology platforms and provide biomarker analysis from a patient 's blood sample . in the case of our breast and gastric cancer offerings , biomarker analysis involves fluorescence in situ hybridization , or fish , for the detection and quantitation of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 , or her2 , gene copy number as well as immunocytochemical , or icc , analysis of estrogen receptor , or er , protein , progesterone receptor , or pr , protein , and androgen receptor , or ar , protein , which are currently commercially available . a patient 's her2 status provides the physician with information about the appropriateness of therapies such as herceptin ® or tykerb ® . er and pr status provides the physician with information about the appropriateness of endocrine therapies such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors . our lung cancer biomarker analysis offering currently includes fish testing for alk , ros1 , ret , met and fgfr1 gene rearrangements , as well as analysis for the t790m , deletion 19 , and l858r mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor , or egfr gene , as well as braf , kras and nras . the l858r mutation of the egfr gene and exon 19 deletions as activators of egfr kinase activity are associated with the use of the drugs tarceva ® , gilotrif ® and iressa ® . for lung cancer , we also offer a resistance profile assay consisting of the biomarkers met , her2 ( both of which we perform using our technology for ctcs ) , kras , and t790m ( both of which are performed using ctdna in plasma ) . these assays can be used by physicians to identify the mechanism causing disease progression for patients with nsclc who are being treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor , or tki , therapy and therefore may qualify patients for inclusion in a clinical trial . in november 2015 , tagrisso ® was approved by the u.s. food and drug administration , or fda , providing another biomarker-based therapy for the treatment of patients with egfr-related lung cancer . tagrisso ® is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease , who have progressed on or after egfr tki therapy , and who have acquired a t790m resistance mutation . recently , the fda approved the combination of novartis ' tafinlar ® ( dabrafenib ) and mekinist ® ( trametinib ) for the treatment of patients with metastatic nsclc whose tumors express the braf v600e mutation , an fda “ breakthrough therapy ” designation for patients who have received prior chemotherapy . this combination was approved in europe for the same indication in march 2017. braf mutations , which appear in approximately 1-3 % of nsclc cases globally , are associated with zelboraf ® and tafinlar ® treatment , as these braf inhibitors are both approved for the treatment of patients with melanoma . in september 2017 , we launched our assay for mutations of the nras oncogene , which can be used to detect and monitor an actionable biomarker associated with multiple cancer types such as metastatic melanoma , colorectal and lung cancer . as a result , we now offer 15 clia-certified liquid biopsy tests utilizing our target-selector platform to determine the status of key cancer biomarkers listed in the national comprehensive cancer network guidelines ® . our nras assay combines our proprietary switch blocker technology for improved mutation detection with next generation sequencing , resulting in ultra-high sensitivity . fibroblast growth receptor 1 , or fgfr1 , amplification is offered using our ctc technology . fgfr1 is present in several tumor types , including both nsclc and small cell lung cancer , or sclc , and has been shown to be a prognostic indicator of progression . fgfr1 is also a key target for several drugs undergoing clinical development . we analytically validated pd-l1 testing utilizing our ctc technology in 2016. pd-l1 is a biomarker that is informative for immuno-oncology therapies currently marketed for lung cancer and melanoma , as well as therapies in development for multiple tumor types . we collaborated with david rimm , m.d . , ph.d. , a pathologist at yale medical school and a scientific advisor to us , on the analytical development of this assay . we plan to release additional blood-based biomarker assays , such as those that test for esr1 , to our current menu of liquid biopsy assays using blood samples . in addition , we plan to complete the development and offer multiplexed biomarker tests , which will allow the detection and quantitative monitoring of multiple biomarkers in a single assay . story_separator_special_tag revenues our revenues are generated from diagnostic services provided to physicians and billed to third-party insurance payers such as managed care organizations , medicare and medicaid and patients for any deductibles , coinsurance or copayments that may be due . commencing on march 31 , 2017 , we recognize revenue related to commercial assays delivered and billed to medicare and other third-party payers on an accrual basis when amounts that will ultimately be realized can be estimated upon delivery , whereby prior to march 31 , 2017 , we recognized revenues for such services on a cash basis as collected because the amounts ultimately expected to be received could not be estimated upon delivery due to insufficient collection history experience . we bill third-party payers on a fee-for-service basis at our list price and third-party commercial revenue is recorded net of contractual discounts , payer-specific allowances and other reserves . our development services revenues are supported by contractual agreements and generated from assay development services provided to entities , as well as certain other diagnostic services provided to physicians . diagnostic services are completed upon the delivery of assay results to the prescribing physician , at which time we bill for the service . our gross commercial revenues billed are subject to estimated deductions for such contractual discounts , payer-specific allowances and other reserves to arrive at reported net revenues , which relate to differences between amounts billed and corresponding amounts estimated to be subsequently collected . these third-party payer discounts and sales allowances are estimated based on a number of assumptions and factors , including historical payment trends , seasonality associated with the annual reset of patient deductible limits on january 1 of each year , and current and estimated future payments . the estimates of amounts that will ultimately be realized from commercial diagnostic services require significant judgment by us . patients do not enter into direct agreements with us that commit them to pay any portion of the cost of the tests in the event that they have not met their annual deductible limit under their insurance policy , if any , or if their insurance otherwise declines to reimburse us . adjustments to the estimated payment amounts are recorded at the time of final collection and settlement of each transaction as an adjustment to commercial revenue . costs and expenses we classify our costs and expenses into four categories : cost of revenues , research and development , sales and marketing , and general and administrative . our costs and expenses principally consist of facility costs and overhead , personnel costs , outside services and consulting costs , laboratory consumables , development costs , and legal fees . cost of revenues . our cost of revenues consists principally of facility costs and overhead , personnel costs , and laboratory and manufacturing supplies and materials . we are pursuing various strategies to reduce and control our cost of revenues , including automating aspects of our processes , developing more efficient technology and methods , attempting to negotiate improved terms and volume discounts with our suppliers and exploring relocating our operations to a lower-cost facility . 69 research and development expenses . we incur research and development expenses principally in connection with our efforts to develop and improve our tests . our primary research and development expenses consist of direct personnel costs , laboratory e quipment and consumables , and overhead expenses . we anticipate that research and development expenses will remain consistent in the near-term , principally to develop and validate tests in our pipeline and to perform work associated with clinical utility st udies and development collaborations . in addition , we expect that our costs related to collaborations with research and academic institutions will increase . all research and development expenses are charged to operations in the periods in which they are in curred . sales and marketing expenses . our sales and marketing expenses consist principally of personnel and related overhead costs for our sales team and their support personnel , travel and entertainment expenses , and other selling costs including sales collaterals and trade shows . general and administrative expenses . general and administrative expenses consist principally of personnel-related expenses , professional fees , such as legal , accounting and business consultants , insurance costs , and other general expenses . we expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase as we expand our business operations . we further expect that general and administrative expenses will increase significantly due to increased information technology , legal , insurance , accounting and financial reporting expenses associated with expanded commercial activities . seasonality we expect our test volume to decrease during vacation and holiday seasons , and also during the winter season in colder climates experiencing prolonged adverse weather conditions , when patients are less likely to visit their health care providers . we also expect relatively lower cash receipts in the first quarter of each year , as annual patient deductibles generally reset on january 1 of each year . we expect these trends in seasonality to continue for the foreseeable future . critical accounting policies and significant judgments and estimates our management 's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements , which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of america . the preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets , liabilities , revenue and expenses and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities . on an ongoing basis , we evaluate our estimates based on historical experience and make various assumptions , which management believes to be reasonable under the circumstances , which form the basis for judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources . actual results may differ from these estimates under different

cash used in operating activities . net cash used in operating activities was $ 19.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 , compared to net cash used in operating activities of $ 15.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016. the net increase of $ 4.0 million in cash used was primarily related to an increase of $ 3.2 million in cash used to fund our net loss , as well as a decrease of $ 0.6 million in net cash provided by operating assets and liabilities and a net decrease of $ 0.2 million in non-cash expenses primarily related to stock-based compensation expense . cash used in investing activities . net cash used in investing activities of approximately $ 1,400,000 and $ 451,000 during the years ended december 31 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , was related to purchases of fixed assets . cash provided by financing activities . net cash provided by financing activities was $ 18.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 , compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $ 11.9 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016. our primary sources of cash from financing activities during the year ended december 31 , 2017 consisted of $ 8.6 million , $ 2.0 million and $ 2.9 million in net proceeds from our offerings in march , august and december 2017 , respectively , as well as proceeds of $ 7.5 million from the exercise of common stock warrants sold in our offering in october 2016 , which were partially offset by $ 2.6 million of principal payments made on indebtedness . our primary sources of cash from financing activities during the year ended december 31 , 2016 related to $ 9.0 million and $ 4.3 million in net proceeds from our offerings in october and may 2016 , respectively , as well as $ 0.5 million in net proceeds received from the sale of common stock to aspire capital , which were partially offset by $ 1.8 million of principal payments made on indebtedness .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash used in operating activities . net cash used in operating activities was $ 19.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 , compared to net cash used in operating activities of $ 15.7 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016. the net increase of $ 4.0 million in cash used was primarily related to an increase of $ 3.2 million in cash used to fund our net loss , as well as a decrease of $ 0.6 million in net cash provided by operating assets and liabilities and a net decrease of $ 0.2 million in non-cash expenses primarily related to stock-based compensation expense . cash used in investing activities . net cash used in investing activities of approximately $ 1,400,000 and $ 451,000 during the years ended december 31 , 2017 and 2016 , respectively , was related to purchases of fixed assets . cash provided by financing activities . net cash provided by financing activities was $ 18.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 , compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $ 11.9 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016. our primary sources of cash from financing activities during the year ended december 31 , 2017 consisted of $ 8.6 million , $ 2.0 million and $ 2.9 million in net proceeds from our offerings in march , august and december 2017 , respectively , as well as proceeds of $ 7.5 million from the exercise of common stock warrants sold in our offering in october 2016 , which were partially offset by $ 2.6 million of principal payments made on indebtedness . our primary sources of cash from financing activities during the year ended december 31 , 2016 related to $ 9.0 million and $ 4.3 million in net proceeds from our offerings in october and may 2016 , respectively , as well as $ 0.5 million in net proceeds received from the sale of common stock to aspire capital , which were partially offset by $ 1.8 million of principal payments made on indebtedness .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : further , our proprietary blood collection tubes , or bcts , which allow for the intact transport of liquid biopsy samples for research use only , or ruo , from regions around the world , are anticipated to be sold to laboratory supply distributors commencing in 2018. our revenue generating efforts are focused in three areas : medical oncologists , surgical oncologists , pulmonologists , pathologists and other physicians who use the biomarker information we provide in order to determine the best treatment plan for their patients ; providing laboratory services utilizing both our ctc and ctdna testing in order to help pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies developing drug candidate therapies to treat cancer ; and licensing and or selling our proprietary testing and or technologies to partners in the united states and abroad . 64 assays , products and services we have commercialized our target-selector assays for a number of solid tumor indications such as : breast cancer , non-small cell lung cancer , or nsclc , gastric cancer , colorectal cancer , prostate cancer , melanoma , pancreaticobiliary cancer , and ovarian cancer . these assays utilize our dual ctc and ctdna technology platforms and provide biomarker analysis from a patient 's blood sample . in the case of our breast and gastric cancer offerings , biomarker analysis involves fluorescence in situ hybridization , or fish , for the detection and quantitation of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 , or her2 , gene copy number as well as immunocytochemical , or icc , analysis of estrogen receptor , or er , protein , progesterone receptor , or pr , protein , and androgen receptor , or ar , protein , which are currently commercially available . a patient 's her2 status provides the physician with information about the appropriateness of therapies such as herceptin ® or tykerb ® . er and pr status provides the physician with information about the appropriateness of endocrine therapies such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors . our lung cancer biomarker analysis offering currently includes fish testing for alk , ros1 , ret , met and fgfr1 gene rearrangements , as well as analysis for the t790m , deletion 19 , and l858r mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor , or egfr gene , as well as braf , kras and nras . the l858r mutation of the egfr gene and exon 19 deletions as activators of egfr kinase activity are associated with the use of the drugs tarceva ® , gilotrif ® and iressa ® . for lung cancer , we also offer a resistance profile assay consisting of the biomarkers met , her2 ( both of which we perform using our technology for ctcs ) , kras , and t790m ( both of which are performed using ctdna in plasma ) . these assays can be used by physicians to identify the mechanism causing disease progression for patients with nsclc who are being treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor , or tki , therapy and therefore may qualify patients for inclusion in a clinical trial . in november 2015 , tagrisso ® was approved by the u.s. food and drug administration , or fda , providing another biomarker-based therapy for the treatment of patients with egfr-related lung cancer . tagrisso ® is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease , who have progressed on or after egfr tki therapy , and who have acquired a t790m resistance mutation . recently , the fda approved the combination of novartis ' tafinlar ® ( dabrafenib ) and mekinist ® ( trametinib ) for the treatment of patients with metastatic nsclc whose tumors express the braf v600e mutation , an fda “ breakthrough therapy ” designation for patients who have received prior chemotherapy . this combination was approved in europe for the same indication in march 2017. braf mutations , which appear in approximately 1-3 % of nsclc cases globally , are associated with zelboraf ® and tafinlar ® treatment , as these braf inhibitors are both approved for the treatment of patients with melanoma . in september 2017 , we launched our assay for mutations of the nras oncogene , which can be used to detect and monitor an actionable biomarker associated with multiple cancer types such as metastatic melanoma , colorectal and lung cancer . as a result , we now offer 15 clia-certified liquid biopsy tests utilizing our target-selector platform to determine the status of key cancer biomarkers listed in the national comprehensive cancer network guidelines ® . our nras assay combines our proprietary switch blocker technology for improved mutation detection with next generation sequencing , resulting in ultra-high sensitivity . fibroblast growth receptor 1 , or fgfr1 , amplification is offered using our ctc technology . fgfr1 is present in several tumor types , including both nsclc and small cell lung cancer , or sclc , and has been shown to be a prognostic indicator of progression . fgfr1 is also a key target for several drugs undergoing clinical development . we analytically validated pd-l1 testing utilizing our ctc technology in 2016. pd-l1 is a biomarker that is informative for immuno-oncology therapies currently marketed for lung cancer and melanoma , as well as therapies in development for multiple tumor types . we collaborated with david rimm , m.d . , ph.d. , a pathologist at yale medical school and a scientific advisor to us , on the analytical development of this assay . we plan to release additional blood-based biomarker assays , such as those that test for esr1 , to our current menu of liquid biopsy assays using blood samples . in addition , we plan to complete the development and offer multiplexed biomarker tests , which will allow the detection and quantitative monitoring of multiple biomarkers in a single assay . story_separator_special_tag revenues our revenues are generated from diagnostic services provided to physicians and billed to third-party insurance payers such as managed care organizations , medicare and medicaid and patients for any deductibles , coinsurance or copayments that may be due . commencing on march 31 , 2017 , we recognize revenue related to commercial assays delivered and billed to medicare and other third-party payers on an accrual basis when amounts that will ultimately be realized can be estimated upon delivery , whereby prior to march 31 , 2017 , we recognized revenues for such services on a cash basis as collected because the amounts ultimately expected to be received could not be estimated upon delivery due to insufficient collection history experience . we bill third-party payers on a fee-for-service basis at our list price and third-party commercial revenue is recorded net of contractual discounts , payer-specific allowances and other reserves . our development services revenues are supported by contractual agreements and generated from assay development services provided to entities , as well as certain other diagnostic services provided to physicians . diagnostic services are completed upon the delivery of assay results to the prescribing physician , at which time we bill for the service . our gross commercial revenues billed are subject to estimated deductions for such contractual discounts , payer-specific allowances and other reserves to arrive at reported net revenues , which relate to differences between amounts billed and corresponding amounts estimated to be subsequently collected . these third-party payer discounts and sales allowances are estimated based on a number of assumptions and factors , including historical payment trends , seasonality associated with the annual reset of patient deductible limits on january 1 of each year , and current and estimated future payments . the estimates of amounts that will ultimately be realized from commercial diagnostic services require significant judgment by us . patients do not enter into direct agreements with us that commit them to pay any portion of the cost of the tests in the event that they have not met their annual deductible limit under their insurance policy , if any , or if their insurance otherwise declines to reimburse us . adjustments to the estimated payment amounts are recorded at the time of final collection and settlement of each transaction as an adjustment to commercial revenue . costs and expenses we classify our costs and expenses into four categories : cost of revenues , research and development , sales and marketing , and general and administrative . our costs and expenses principally consist of facility costs and overhead , personnel costs , outside services and consulting costs , laboratory consumables , development costs , and legal fees . cost of revenues . our cost of revenues consists principally of facility costs and overhead , personnel costs , and laboratory and manufacturing supplies and materials . we are pursuing various strategies to reduce and control our cost of revenues , including automating aspects of our processes , developing more efficient technology and methods , attempting to negotiate improved terms and volume discounts with our suppliers and exploring relocating our operations to a lower-cost facility . 69 research and development expenses . we incur research and development expenses principally in connection with our efforts to develop and improve our tests . our primary research and development expenses consist of direct personnel costs , laboratory e quipment and consumables , and overhead expenses . we anticipate that research and development expenses will remain consistent in the near-term , principally to develop and validate tests in our pipeline and to perform work associated with clinical utility st udies and development collaborations . in addition , we expect that our costs related to collaborations with research and academic institutions will increase . all research and development expenses are charged to operations in the periods in which they are in curred . sales and marketing expenses . our sales and marketing expenses consist principally of personnel and related overhead costs for our sales team and their support personnel , travel and entertainment expenses , and other selling costs including sales collaterals and trade shows . general and administrative expenses . general and administrative expenses consist principally of personnel-related expenses , professional fees , such as legal , accounting and business consultants , insurance costs , and other general expenses . we expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase as we expand our business operations . we further expect that general and administrative expenses will increase significantly due to increased information technology , legal , insurance , accounting and financial reporting expenses associated with expanded commercial activities . seasonality we expect our test volume to decrease during vacation and holiday seasons , and also during the winter season in colder climates experiencing prolonged adverse weather conditions , when patients are less likely to visit their health care providers . we also expect relatively lower cash receipts in the first quarter of each year , as annual patient deductibles generally reset on january 1 of each year . we expect these trends in seasonality to continue for the foreseeable future . critical accounting policies and significant judgments and estimates our management 's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements , which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of america . the preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets , liabilities , revenue and expenses and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities . on an ongoing basis , we evaluate our estimates based on historical experience and make various assumptions , which management believes to be reasonable under the circumstances , which form the basis for judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources . actual results may differ from these estimates under different

