I’ve had many biopsies and some have involved open surgery. But, what sounds like a ground-breaking new device developed by technology design and development firm Cambridge Consultants and Singapore-based Clearbridge BioMedics may make that a thing of the past.
Tumor cells can now be detected even faster, and potentially more accurately, from a simple blood sample, using this device, according to sources. ClearCell System may help doctors personalize cancer treatments, the exciting new procedure that can potentially save more lives when treatments are tailored to a person’s specific genes.
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis announced in April that they were “using powerful DNA sequencing technology to identify mutations at the root of a patient's tumor -- considered key to personalizing cancer treatment,” according to sciencedaily.com.
The numbers are a little frightening. According to the two companies, out of an estimated 12.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed around the world in 2008 – the latest year for which figures are available –7.6 million of them resulted in death. But, here’s the scariest part - the number of cases is expected to increase to 21 million by 2030, the companies said in a statement.
The spread of the disease around the body is the major cause of death from cancer. But, the traditional diagnosis method of a tumor biopsy often involves invasive surgery and cannot easily detect whether the disease has spread. Clearbridge BioMedics, which produces the second-generation ClearCell System, described it as “a new low-cost non-invasive ‘liquid biopsy’ that is drawing on the diagnostic device expertise of Cambridge Consultants – particularly in the fields of microfluidics and automation control – to give early warning of the spread of the disease.”
It does this by detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream that have detached from a patient’s primary tumor – even at concentrations of as low as one in a billion blood cells. Early detection of these CTCs can increase patients’ chances of survival – and tracking the cell count over time could help ensure treatment is more effective.
The new testing device can retrieve the cells intact offering detailed insight into the exact nature of the cancer and its unique characteristics, and so allowing the development of cancer treatments to fit the needs of each patient’s unique tumor biology.
Edited by
Amanda Ciccatelli
