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Posted on Mar 04, 2010, 6 a.m.
Johns Hopkins University (US) researchers develop a diagnostic test to identify tumor gene characteristics specific to an individual patient.
In a key advancement opening future development of personalized tumor biomarker assays, Victor E. Velculescu, from Johns Hopkins University (Maryland, USA), and colleagues have developed a diagnostic test to measure circulating levels of tumor DNA. Writing that: “Polymerase chain reaction with primers spanning the breakpoints was able to detect mutant DNA molecules present at levels lower than 0.001% and readily identified mutated circulating DNA in patient plasma samples,” the researchers propose that: “This approach provides an exquisitely sensitive and broadly applicable approach for the development of personalized biomarkers to enhance the clinical management of cancer patients.”
Rebecca J. Leary, Isaac Kinde, Frank Diehl, Kerstin Schmidt, Chris Clouser, Cisilya Duncan, Alena Antipova, Clarence Lee, Kevin McKernan, Francisco M. De La Vega, Kenneth W. Kinzler, Bert Vogelstein, Luis A. Diaz, Jr., Victor E. Velculescu. “Development of Personalized Tumor Biomarkers Using Massively Parallel Sequencing.” Sci Transl Med; 24 February 2010; DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3000702.
