A Blood Test to Prognosticate Progression-Free and Overall Survival in Cancer Patients

Background

Tumor cells from growing cancers are shed into the blood stream. The FDA has approved the use of circulating tumor cell numbers for prognostication in multiple cancers, but this approach is less than optimal. The numbers of circulating tumor cells are usually relatively small and often are difficult to capture from the circulation. If there are enough circulating tumor cells, one can conclude that the tumor is metastasizing and by that time the prognosis may not be very good. Currently there is no good panel of circulating tumor cell based biomarkers available to the clinician.

Technology Description

This invention teaches a method of evaluating cancer progression and dissemination by monitoring a specific biomarker alone or in combination with other biomarkers. The inventor has determined that detection of specific tumor cell biomarkers is a valuable method of determining cancer progression in patients.

Applications

Detection of these markers bears prognostic significance; and testing blood of patients could be done before, during and after chemotherapy in order to monitor patient response.

Advantages

The benefits of this invention include high sensitivity (very low false negatives); minimally invasive as only blood samples are required; high specificity (no false positives); can be part of a broader panel of markers; can be utilized as a marker for all solid tumors, given the biology and fundamental role in metastasis.

Intellectual Property Info

A patent application has been filed.

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