http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center report that cancers physically alter cells in the lymphatic system – a network of vessels that transports and stores immune cells throughout the body – to promote the spread of disease, a process called metastasis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-tumor-activated-protein-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 13 May 2013 17:24:38 EST news287684667 Individual cancer cells that break away from the original tumor and circulate through the blood stream are considered responsible for the development of metastases. These dreaded secondary tumors are the main cause of cancer-related deaths. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detectable in a patient's blood are associated with a poorer prognosis. However, up until now, experimental evidence was lacking as to whether the "stem cell" of metastasis is found among CTCs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-metastasis-stem-cells-blood-breast.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:13:25 EST news285844396 Some breast tumor circulating cells in the bloodstream are marked by a constellation of biomarkers that identify them as those destined to seed the brain with a deadly spread of cancer, said researchers led by those at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the journal Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-signature-circulating-breast-tumor-cells.html Cancer Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:00:02 EST news284818141 A new system for isolating rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – living solid tumor cells found at low levels in the bloodstream – shows significant improvement over previously developed devices and does not require prior identification of tumor-specific target molecules. Developed at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Engineering in Medicine and the MGH Cancer Center, the device rapidly delivers a population of unlabeled tumor cells that can be analyzed with both standard clinical diagnostic cytopathology and advanced genetic and molecular technology. The MGH team's report has been published in Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-third-generation-device-significantly-capture-circulating.html Cancer Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:00:05 EST news284215721 (Medical Xpress)—A research team jointly led by scientists from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, have enhanced a device they developed to identify and "grab" circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, that break away from cancers and enter the blood, often leading to the spread of cancer to other parts of the body. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-diagnostic-technology-individualized-treatments-prostate.html Cancer Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:14:04 EST news284109234 A proof-of-concept device is nearly perfect in separating breast cancer cells from blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-circulating-tumor-cells.html Cancer Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:07:18 EST news283428431 The notion that police can identify a suspect based on the tiniest drop of blood or trace of tissue has long been a staple of TV dramas, but scientists at Harvard have taken the idea a step further. Using just a single human cell, they can reproduce an individual's entire genome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-cell-technique-sequence-entire-genome.html Genetics Mon, 07 Jan 2013 07:39:09 EST news276766740 (Medical Xpress)—A surprising discovery about the physical properties of cancer cells could help improve a new diagnostic approach – a liquid biopsy – that detects, measures, and evaluates cancer cells in blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-unexpected-toughness-cancer-cells-blood.html Cancer Tue, 04 Dec 2012 09:50:05 EST news273836994 Tumor cells circulating in a patient's bloodstream can yield a great deal of information on how a tumor is responding to treatment and what drugs might be more effective against it. But first, these rare cells have to be captured and isolated from the many other cells found in a blood sample. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-jellyfish-scientists-device-capture-rare.html Cancer Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:00:11 EST news271953586 A novel miniature diagnostic platform using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology is capable of detecting minuscule cell particles known as microvesicles in a drop of blood. Microvesicles shed by cancer cells are even more numerous than those released by normal cells, so detecting them could prove a simple means for diagnosing cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-analysis-cell-diagnosis-brain-cancer.html Medical research Sun, 11 Nov 2012 13:02:41 EST news271861349 (Medical Xpress)—Using something called "inertial microfluidics," University of Cincinnati researchers are able to continuously and selectively collect rare cells, such as circulating tumor cells, based on their size vs. other biomarkers. This could reduce analysis time and increase selectivity while reducing reliance on antibody-based testing in clinical tests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-options-ease-accuracy-rare-cells.html Cancer Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:20:04 EST news270470483 Deciding the ideal treatment for patients with metastatic prostate cancer that stops responding to initial therapy could be guided by certain analyses of cancer cells isolated from the patients' blood, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-noninvasive-assay-treatment-response-patients.html Cancer Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:15:05 EST news270213278 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers with the Stand Up To Cancer CTC Chip Dream Team have identified a potential treatment target in metastatic pancreatic cancer through a detailed analysis of genes expressed in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – cells that break off from solid tumors and travel through the bloodstream. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-potential-treatment-metastatic-pancreatic-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:38:31 EST news262856301 Siemens' researchers have been able to analyze blood cells by employing the same magnetic reading technology as is used for computer hard drives. They have developed a prototype for the magnetic flow cytometry of blood. Blood is the most important source of diagnostic information for doctors tracking the success of therapy for a tumor or HIV. For their new process, the researchers are taking advantage of the GMR (giant magnetoresistance) effect, the discovery of which was the subject of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-tumor-cells-blood-nanomagnets.html Medical research Mon, 16 Jul 2012 10:20:45 EST news261652833 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers in the US have developed a new detector for measuring rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in samples of whole blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-detector-rare-cancer-cells.html Cancer Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:30:01 EST news260857847 Detailed analysis of genes expressed in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) -- cells that break off from solid tumors and travel through the bloodstream -- has identified a potential treatment target in metastatic pancreatic cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-potential-treatment-animal-pancreatic-cancer.html Cancer Sun, 01 Jul 2012 13:00:24 EST news260357277 (Medical Xpress) -- The future of prostate cancer therapy may lie in a tiny, "sticky" silicon chip dubbed GEDI (Geometrically Enhanced Differential Immunocapture, pronounced like the "Star Wars" forces of good) that can identify and collect cancer cells from a patient's bloodstream. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-device-advance-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Thu, 28 Jun 2012 06:40:01 EST news260083713 The cells that slough off from a cancerous tumor into the bloodstream are a genetically diverse bunch, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have found. Some have genes turned on that give them the potential to lodge themselves in new places, helping a cancer spread between organs. Others have completely different patterns of gene expression and might be more benign, or less likely to survive in a new tissue. Some cells may even express genes that could predict their response to a specific therapy. Even within one patient, the tumor cells that make it into circulating blood vary drastically. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tumor-cells-equal-reveals-huge.html Cancer Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:01 EST news255614256 Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Health, and collaborating cancer physicians have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of an advanced blood test for detecting and analyzing circulating tumor cells (CTCs)—breakaway cells from patients' solid tumors—from cancer patients. The findings, reported in five new papers, show that the highly sensitive blood analysis provides information that may soon be comparable to that from some types of surgical biopsies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-scientists-effective-biopsy-blood-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:00:01 EST news247418377 Researchers have developed a method to analyze circulating tumor cells in the blood of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. This method, which can analyze a sample size as small as three cells, may allow clinicians to track cancer progress and treatments and could help them develop new therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-sensitive-method-circulating-tumor-cells.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:57:23 EST news245347023 The presence of circulating tumor cells in the blood appears to have no relationship to survival in women who have just been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, according to new research from Fox Chase Cancer Center. However, the research shows that these stray tumor cells may signal that the disease has spread to other parts of the body, even before imaging reveals any metastases. The results will be presented on Friday, December 9 at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-circulating-tumor-cells-linked-survival.html Inflammatory disorders Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:43:26 EST news242642333 The final survival analysis of an international study of a new drug for prostate cancer has found an even greater median survival benefit than previously reported, and has established a new class of treatment for men with metastatic prostate cancer. In addition, researchers are exploring a potential biomarker of response to treatment in general. The results were presented today by Howard I. Scher, MD, Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The drug, abiraterone acetate (trade name Zytiga) was recently approved by the FDA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-drug-shown-significantly-survival-men.html Cancer Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:05:44 EST news226569921 Researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center say the number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood is a "powerful predictor" to help physicians more reliably assess treatment benefit for patients with metastatic breast cancer. The findings from a large analysis using pooled data from international cancer centers will be presented during a poster session on Monday, June 6th, at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-blood-powerful-predictor-metastatic-breast.html Cancer Wed, 18 May 2011 19:00:01 EST news224961973 French researchers have reported the strongest proof yet that evidence of 'circulating tumor cells' found in samples of a patient's blood is strongly linked to poor outcomes such as a short time to disease progression. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-strong-evidence-prognostic-circulating-tumor.html Cancer Thu, 05 May 2011 10:06:40 EST news223808789