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No two cancer cells are the same
"A new study has found that cells that spread out of tumors express a specific gene series, indicating the need for more targeted cancer treatment options."
According to a new study by researchers at Stanford University, when faced with cancer diagnosis, the standard approach may mistake “forest†as a “treeâ€. The team found that not all tumor cells express the same genes, including cells from the same patient or even the same blood.
In addition, these scientists found that cancer cells circulating in the blood and tumor cell lines used in drug development are significantly different, indicating that cancer drugs developed using these cell lines may be ineffective against these circulating cancer cells.
Figure: Stanford researchers use a magnetic system to separate living cancer cells from blood samples.
"Different cells that spread out may enter different organs or represent different groups, so if you use a drug or a drug that targets only one group , you may not be able to eliminate all the scattered cancer," said Stanford University, author of the study. Stefanie Jeffrey, a professor of surgery and director of surgical oncology research, said. "Circulating tumor cells are different, so we need better models for drug development."
In the study, published in PLOS One on May 7, Jeffrey and colleagues used a previously developed device that captured live tumor cells labeled with magnetic particles to separate circulating cells from the blood. Compared to the results reported by other research groups by other methods, the cells they capture are less contaminated by white blood cells, which is a common problem in separating circulating cancer cells from the blood.
Then, using Fluidigm's microfluidic chip, the team performed real-time quantitative RT-PCR to simultaneously measure mRNA expression levels of 87 cancer-associated genes or reference genes in a single tumor cell. This analysis of circulating tumor cells provides an operative approach to studying metastatic cells during disease progression, making it possible to provide tailored treatments for different cell types.
“The paper by Dr. Stefanie Jeffrey and his research team is an important contribution to the field,†Massimo Cristofanilli, a breast cancer clinician and chair of the Medical Oncology Department at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, said in an email. He said this confirms that circulating cancer cells can be used to monitor changes in the tumor, and this study can improve understanding of the (cancer) metastasis process.
Finally, it is still unknown which genes and how these cells respond to different drug treatments. Although this technology has not been applied to clinical treatment, the research team is currently developing a chip to test the drug response of different cells.
"The hope is that the final result is that circulating tumor cells can guide drug selection," Jeffery said.
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