Development of Technologies for Early Detection and Stratification of Breast Cancer
Abstract
The overall goal of this work is to develop ultra-sensitive detection techniques to identify a panel of new biomarkers and indicators with diagnostic and predictive value in breast cancer. This year, multiple ultrasensitive assays for candidate breast cancer biomarkers were developed. Initial screens with commercially purchased samples showed some promising leads with diagnostic potential. Progress has also been made in the area of single cell analysis, which would be useful for analyzing both circulating tumor cells and single cells from tissue biopsies. Circulating tumor cell isolation using microfluidics has been accomplished with multiple platforms and these methods are being refined for high throughput and implementation. Good progress has been made on identifying additional markers (mtDNA, ADAM8, Tiam1) and correlations with various aspects of breast cancer invasiveness are apparent. Finally, a cancer mouse model was developed and a single molecule assay was used to detect a cancer biomarker in the blood after an inoculum of cultured cancer cells that is more than 300 times lower than a conventional inoculation. This bodes well for prospects of being able detect biomarkers in blood for early diagnosis, for monitoring recurrence, or for determining therapeutic efficacy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA613170
Entities
People
- Charlotte Kuperwasser
- Daniel Chiu
- David R. Walt
- Gail Sonenshein
- Rachel Buchsbaum
Organizations
- Tufts University