Circulating Tumor Cell News and Research

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EORTC researchers review potential treatment options for patients with locally advanced breast cancer

Treating patients with locally advanced inoperable breast cancer is an extremely difficult task. The overwhelming majority of patients treated for this disease suffer relapse and, despite the best multimodal treatment, do not survive. There is a medical need to examine current and potential treatments, and EORTC researchers have recently published an article in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology concerning this topic.

27 Feb 2015

AR-V7 status does not affect response to taxane chemotherapy in patients with mCRPC

Findings from a small prospective study suggest that androgen receptor V7 (or AR-V7) status does not significantly affect response to taxane chemotherapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Treatment outcomes were largely similar for the 17 patients with AR-V7-positive prostate cancer and the 20 patients with AR-V7-negative disease included in this analysis.

25 Feb 2015

Agena releases MassARRAY 24-Well System for mass spectrometry-based genetic testing

Agena Bioscience today released the MassARRAY 24-Well System for mass spectrometry-based genetic analysis, adding to its existing MassARRAY portfolio. The new 24-well format is tailored to smaller clinical testing laboratories requiring modest sample throughput, reduced initial hardware costs, and reduced time to result.

24 Feb 2015

SRI Biosciences awarded contract to develop novel polymers to neutralize chemical, biological threats

SRI Biosciences, a division of SRI International, has been awarded a $10 million contract under a DARPA program to reimagine how proteins are constructed and to develop novel medicines and diagnostics as countermeasures to chemical and biological threats.

12 Feb 2015

Morphogenesis, University of Florida partner to develop novel device to isolate rare cells

Senior engineering students and faculty at the University of Florida in Gainesville are partnering with biotech cell and gene therapy company Morphogenesis, Inc. in Tampa to design an advanced, fully automated cell separation system capable of capturing rare cells – such as stem cells – and circulating tumor cells.

4 Feb 2015

U-M researchers devise reliable way to grow tumor cells

In a development that could lead to a deeper understanding of cancer and better early-stage treatment of the disease, University of Michigan researchers have devised a reliable way to grow a certain type of cancer cells from patients outside the body for study.

18 Dec 2014

Rice-led research shows how migratory cancer cells acquire 'stem-like' properties

In the first study of its kind, Rice University researchers have mapped how information flows through the genetic circuits that cause cancer cells to become metastatic. The research reveals a common pattern in the decision-making that allows cancer cells to both migrate and form new tumors. Researchers say the commonality may open the door to new drugs that interfere with the genetic switches that cancer must flip to form both cancer stem cells and circulating tumor cells -- two of the main players in cancer metastasis.

31 Oct 2014

CTCs in blood of metastatic cancer patients give genomic read-out of breast cancer

The genetic fingerprint of a metastatic cancer is constantly changing, which means that the therapy that may have stopped a patient's cancer growth today, won't necessarily work tomorrow.

9 Oct 2014

Researchers identify new technique to find rare stem cells

Deep within the bone marrow resides a type of cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These immature cells can differentiate into cells that produce bone, cartilage, fat, or muscle — a trait that scientists have tried to exploit for tissue repair.

7 Oct 2014

Distinct patterns of gene expression identified in several groups of pancreatic CTCs

Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer identified distinct patterns of gene expression in several groups of CTCs, including significant differences from the primary tumor that may contribute to the ability to generate metastases.

23 Sep 2014

CTC clusters cause metastasis

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters - clumps of from 2 to 50 tumor cells that break off a primary tumor and are carried through the bloodstream - appear to be much more likely to cause metastasis than are single CTCs, according to a study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

29 Aug 2014

Researchers devise new way to separate cells by exposing them to sound waves

Researchers from MIT, Pennsylvania State University, and Carnegie Mellon University have devised a new way to separate cells by exposing them to sound waves as they flow through a tiny channel.

27 Aug 2014

Study confirms effectiveness of EKF PointMan technology for isolating low-level DNA mutations in blood

EKF, announces that the latest results from its collaboration with the Institute of Life Sciences at the University of Swansea, UK.

From EKF Diagnostics 22 Jul 2014

New potential avenues to predict and prevent ovarian cancer metastasis

Circulating tumor cells spread ovarian cancer through the bloodstream, homing in on a sheath of abdominal fatty tissue where it can grow and metastasize to other organs, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cancer Cell.

15 Jul 2014

Combination of novel molecular imaging techniques can help predict spread of cancer, patient survival

A simple noninvasive blood test matched with state-of-the-art molecular imaging of individual cells could help oncologists understand their patients' chances of survival, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

10 Jun 2014

Six-way jet-in-air sorter from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences delivers simultaneous high-speed cell sorting and sub-micron particle detection

MoFlo Astrios EQ, a six-way jet-in-air sorter from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, delivers patent pending enhanced dual forward scatter (eFSC) technology for simultaneous sorting and detection of particles from 200 nm to 30 µm in diameter. The instrument sets a new standard for flow cytometry core facilities, delivering high-speed cell sorting and micro-particle detection in a single package. Featuring detailed and precise forward scatter resolution, beadless drop sample handling and increased biosafety, Astrios EQ meets a range of analysis needs.

2 May 2014

Simple chip-based method for better diagnosis of parasitic infections

Parasitic infections like malaria and sleeping sickness affect hundreds of millions of people, primarily in the poorest regions of the world. Diagnosis of these diseases is often difficult because the concentration of parasites in the blood can be very low.

28 Mar 2014

Measuring circulating tumor cells may help better predict prostate cancer survival

New research by USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists demonstrates that measuring circulating tumor cells (CTCs) - the cells that spread cancer through the body - may be a better predictor of patient survival than the prostate specific antigen (PSA).

24 Mar 2014

Research provides insight into biologic mechanisms that individual cancer cells use to metastasize to brain

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering provides fresh insight into the biologic mechanisms that individual cancer cells use to metastasize to the brain.

4 Mar 2014

Researchers find new technique to detect just a handful of lurking tumor cells

Beating cancer is all about early detection, and new research from the University of South Carolina is another step forward in catching the disease early. A team of chemists is reporting a new way to detect just a handful of lurking tumor cells, which can be outnumbered a billion to one in the bloodstream by healthy cells.

28 Feb 2014