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Evaluating the Genetic Profiles of Tumor Cells circulating in the Bloodstream could transform Cancer Care: A Blood Test for managing Lung Cancer @Stanford University Medical School

Posted in CANCER BIOLOGY & Innovations in Cancer Therapy, Cancer Genomics, Cancer Informatics, Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC), Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genome Biology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Liquid Biopsy: Circulating Tumor Cells in Urine and Blood, MagSifter chip, Variation in human protein-coding regions on December 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Evaluating the Genetic Profiles of Tumor Cells circulating in the Bloodstream could transform Cancer Care: A Blood Test for managing Lung Cancer @Stanford University Medical School

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

A Legacy of Innovation @Stanford University Medical School

  1. 1967

    First synthesis of biologically active DNA in test tube

  2. 1968

    First adult human heart transplant in the United States

    Norman Shumway successfully transplants a heart into 54-year-old steelworker Mike Kasperak, who survives for 14 days.

     

  3. 1973

    First expression of a foreign gene implanted in bacteria by recombinant DNA methods

  4. 1981

    First successful human combined heart/lung transplant in the world (fourth attempted worldwide)

  5. 1984

    Isolation of a gene coding for part of the T-cell receptor, a key to the immune system’s function

  6. 1988

    Isolation of pure hematopoietic stem cells from mice

  7. 2002

    First use of gene expression profiling to predict cancer outcomes

  8. 2007

    Application and expansion of optogenetics, a technique to control brain cell activity with light

SOURCE
http://med.stanford.edu/

Evaluating the Genetic Profiles of Tumor Cells circulating in the Bloodstream could transform Cancer Care: A Blood Test for managing Lung Cancer @Stanford University Medical School

The approach that the team developed could be used to look at mutations in three or four genes, and it requires no more than 2 milliliters of blood — about half a teaspoon. The test can be completed in about five hours, the researcher said, and costs less than $30. For comparison, a single state-of-the art biopsy of lung tissue with DNA sequencing costs about $18,000 and takes as long as three weeks to furnish results. Johnson & Johnson’s CellSearch — another blood test, already approved by the FDA — costs about $900 and takes a week to deliver results.

The researchers created a system for isolating circulating tumor cells from the blood of cancer patients and reading a handful of genes from inside each tumor cell. Thus, they were able to obtain genetic information about the original cancer tumor that resides deep in the lungs without doing a biopsy, which can be dangerous for the patient.

“We are trying to make minimally invasive technology that allows us to continuously monitor one person’s health over time,” said radiology instructor Seung-min Park, PhD, a lead author of the new study, which was published online Dec. 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Park shares lead authorship of the study with former Stanford graduate students Dawson Wong, PhD, and Chin Chun Ooi.

A MagSifter chip, shown here fastened to an acrylic holder, can purify circulating tumor cells from the blood of cancer patients.

The MagSifter is an electromagnetic sieve that can be turned on and off. When the MagSifter is on, it pulls the nanoparticle-labeled CTCs from the blood sample and allows the rest of the blood to flow through the sifter. The CTCs pulled from the blood are then deposited into a flat array of tiny wells, each large enough for only one cell. Now the tumor cells are ready for genetic analysis. Each flat of 25,600 wells looks like a miniature muffin tin, with room for a lot of tiny muffins.

SOURCE

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2016/12/blood-test-could-provide-cheaper-way-to-evaluate-lung-tumors.html

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