Circulating Tumor Cell News and Research

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MGH-developed CTC-iChip with digital PCR assay improves detection of early-stage liver cancer

Use of an advanced form of the commonly used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to analyze circulating tumor cells (CTCs) may greatly increase the ability to diagnose early-stage cancer, increasing the likelihood of successful treatment.

20 Jan 2017

RIT research explores impact of shear stress on cells moving through blood vessels

How do cells and protein molecules respond to stress as they travel through blood vessels? Could resulting changes to these biological components impact how diseases are spread?

19 Jan 2017

Columbia University Medical Center to evaluate Biocept's Target Selector platform to diagnose LM in breast cancer patients

Biocept, Inc., a leading commercial provider of clinically actionable liquid biopsy tests designed to improve the outcomes of cancer patients, announces that Columbia University Medical Center will conduct a study to evaluate the clinical utility of the Company's Target Selector™ platform to diagnose leptomeningeal metastases (LM) in patients with breast cancer.

30 Dec 2016

WPI researchers develop chip to trap and identify metastatic cancer cells in blood

A chip developed by mechanical engineers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute can trap and identify metastatic cancer cells in a small amount of blood drawn from a cancer patient.

16 Dec 2016

How could emerging technologies impact cancer care?

The major innovations in cancer diagnosis, therapy/palliative care and surgical intervention are too numerous to list here. But enormous strides have taken place in stem cell therapy, monoclonal antibody therapy and genetic screening.

17 Oct 2016

Duke researchers discover blood markers linked to drug-resistant tumor cells

While searching for a non-invasive way to detect prostate cancer cells circulating in blood, Duke Cancer Institute researchers have identified some blood markers associated with tumor resistance to two common hormone therapies.

21 Sep 2016

Automated CTC analysis isoflux cytation imager launched by Fluxion Biosciences

Fluxion Biosciences, Inc. announced today that it has launched a new imaging system, the IsoFlux Cytation Imager, designed to work exclusively with the IsoFlux Liquid Biopsy System and CTC Enumeration Kit. The IsoFlux Cytation Imager comes pre-configured with all components and software required for automated CTC image acquisition.

From Fluxion Biosciences 15 Sep 2016

Liquid biopsies hold potential for detecting NSCLC EGFR mutations, predicting cancer recurrence

Three manuscripts published in the recent issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, explored the versatility of liquid biopsies by identifying EGFR mutations using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in urine and plasma and examining circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in plasma to predict the risk of lung cancer recurrence after surgical resection.

26 Jul 2016

Phase III clinical study of promising prostate cancer drug reveals surprising results

A recently published international clinical Phase III trial of a promising drug for treating advanced prostate cancer ended with surprising results: the new therapeutic agent failed to achieve any significant improvement in the overall survival of patients compared with the established standard treatment.

12 Jul 2016

New microfluidic device helps extract rare target cells from background cells

A team of researchers from University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH have developed a novel microfluidic device, which combines the inertial effect of fluid and microscale vortices generated in microchambers, to achieve simultaneous double sorting of rare target cells and removal of background cells.

23 May 2016

MedUni Vienna researchers identify reason for chemoresistance in small cell lung cancer

Small cell lung cancer is not usually detected until it is at an advanced stage, when metastases have already formed. Chemotherapy is very effective initially but, within a year, cancer recurs and this time does not respond to a course of chemotherapy. The research group headed by Gerhard Hamilton, University Department of Surgery at MedUni Vienna, has now managed to identify the reason for this chemoresistance.

4 Apr 2016

New sensor 1 million times more sensitive than current methods developed to help detect cancers earlier

Physicists and engineers at Case Western Reserve University have developed an optical sensor, based on nanostructured metamaterials, that's 1 million times more sensitive than the current best available--one capable of identifying a single lightweight molecule in a highly dilute solution.

29 Mar 2016

Elevated levels of particular proteins in cancer cells fuel growth and spread of different cancers

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, with colleagues in Spain and Germany, have unraveled how elevated levels of particular proteins in cancer cells trigger hyperactivity in other proteins, fueling the growth and spread of a variety of cancers.

27 Feb 2016

UCLA researchers pioneer more effective approach to improve cancer treatment

Despite a growing interest in developing non-invasive methods to identify rare cancer cells or cancer cell DNA in blood, current techniques remain complicated and often prohibitively expensive. Now, UCLA researchers have pioneered a more effective approach to these "liquid biopsies" that has the potential to offer a streamlined and low-cost solution for people with the disease.

23 Feb 2016

Cornell researchers identify potent cancer-killing proteins that can kill tumors in bloodstream

Cornell researchers have discovered potent cancer-killing proteins that can travel by white blood cells to kill tumors in the bloodstream of mice with metastatic prostate cancer. The breakthrough study will be published Feb. 10 as the cover article in the Journal of Controlled Release.

13 Jan 2016

Biocept introduces blood-based test for detection, monitoring of prostate cancer and breast cancer

Biocept, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company commercializing and developing biomarkers to improve the detection and treatment of cancer, announces the launch of the CLIA-validated androgen receptor expression assay using a patient's blood for the detection and monitoring of late-stage prostate cancer and a certain form of breast cancer.

7 Jan 2016

High diversity among circulating tumor cells predicts survival, treatment resistance in prostate cancer patients

Research teams at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Epic Sciences have found that greater diversity among circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of advanced prostate cancer patients predicts not only shorter overall survival, but also the development of resistance to key anti-androgen therapies.

4 Jan 2016

Biocept agrees $15 million common stock purchase deal with Aspire

Biocept, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company commercializing and developing blood-based liquid biopsies to improve the detection, monitoring and treatment of cancer, announces a $15 million common stock purchase agreement with Aspire Capital Fund, LLC, a Chicago-based institutional investor.

22 Dec 2015

Findings could offer doctors new method to diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier in patients

By collecting samples from the portal vein--which carries blood from the gastrointestinal tract, including from the pancreas, to the liver--physicians can learn far more about a patient's pancreatic cancer than by relying on peripheral blood from a more easily accessed vein in the arm.

23 Nov 2015

Researchers successfully create infinitely reproducing tissue cultures

Most cases of small cell lung cancer are only diagnosed after the tumour has already formed metastases. Until now it has not been possible to investigate the reasons for this rapid metastasis, because of a lack of sufficient tumour material from patients. Now, the group of researchers led by Gerhard Hamilton, University Department of Surgery at Medical University of Vienna has succeeded in creating infinitely reproducing tissue cultures.

22 Nov 2015