The research opens up new ways to detect, inhibit the spread of cancer -
Clusters of circulating cells commonly found in the blood of cancer patients have long been the subject of cancer research. These groups were considered for more than 50 years that malignant cells that are broken from the primary tumor, the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Now researchers from the Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Institute (NBI) of A * STAR reported that these groups are contrary to what others have taken previously, which could open new ways to detect and inhibit the spread of Cancer.
Due to the technical challenges of separation of these clusters of normal blood cells, little research has been done on these clusters. The working hypothesis is that these clusters of cells are malignant cells of the tumor.
A national research team led by Dr. Min-Han Tan, Team Leader and Senior Research Scientist at IBN, showed that these clusters of cells derived from the blood vessels lining the tumor rather than the tumor itself. The team includes IBN researchers, Genome Institute of A * STAR Singapore, Concord Hospital Cancer, National University of Singapore, Singapore National Cancer Centre and the Singapore General Hospital.
The researchers have to study in detail these circulating cells cluster to a single cell level in 80 patients with colorectal cancer. They first separate the cluster of cells from blood samples of colorectal patients using a custom designed microdevice developed by the laboratory of Professor Jackie Y. Ying at IBN that allows the capture and retrieval clusters quickly and efficiently circulating cells. Then the researchers used high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing and computer modeling to determine the identity of these cells.
After four years of research, the results confirmed that in colorectal cancer, these clusters of circulating cells are endothelial cells from blood vessels lining the tumor and are not cancerous. Unexpectedly, the researchers also found that several groups of endothelial cells have been found in patients with colorectal cancer who have not been treated, compared to those who received treatment, suggesting that these cells could be used for the detection of early stage cancer.
"the goal of cancer research is to understand how cancer spreads in order to curb the disease. our institute has focused on cancer evaluation of a non-invasive manner through blood tests using our new microfiltration technology. Knowing exactly where these circulating cells clusters come to lead us to better approaches to diagnosis and treatment of cancer, "said Professor Jackie Y. Ying, Executive Director of IBN.
colorectal cancer samples for this study was provided by the Concord cancer hospital (formerly Fortis surgical hospital). IBN has worked with the hospital, including Dr. Koh Poh Koon, who was the former deputy clinician scientist at the NBI , to advance cancer research since the establishment of joint tissue bank in 2012 to store and maintain patient samples for research.
"scientific orthodoxy maintained during decades that these clusters frequently observed in patients with cancer cells were malignant tumor cells. however, we found that these clusters of cells are not malignant, but from the blood vessels lining the tumor that is likely peeled off during the blood flow into the tumor. This idea requires a review of decades of data, and gives scientists new opportunities to investigate and starve cancer with drugs that manipulate the blood vessels of tumors. This method also allows doctors a new understanding and approach to the blood supply monitoring tumor in cancer patients receiving treatment, "said Dr Tan Min-Han
Dr Koh said :.
I am pleased that our public-private collaboration has given such key information in cancer biology. significant innovation occurs when the targeted teams are willing to challenge and disrupt existing dogmas and ideas here allow Singapore to develop its key technologies in the field of liquid biopsy.
colorectal cancer is cancer of the large intestine (colon and rectum). It is cancer most common in Singapore, and the third most common cancer in the world.
the next step in this research is to determine whether the same is true for other types of cancer in addition to colorectal cancer, and develop new liquid biopsy technologies for cancer detection and drug treatment based on these clusters of circulating cells.
research paper was recently published in the interdisciplinary medical journal, Science Translational Medicine.
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