Detection of Disseminating Tumor Cells (DTCs) holds promise for the early detection of potential relapse. The presence of bone marrow DTCs correlate with increased relapse risk, decreasing overall survival.
Applied Cells, a commercial provider of cell preparation and isolation solutions for tumor biology research, today announced that it will further its research collaboration on rare cell isolation of breast cancer disseminated tumor cells in bone marrow with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). Applied Cells MARS technologies will be used in a multi-center trial as part of the 2-PREVENT (Secondary PREvention through SurVEillance and iNTervention) Translational Center of Excellence to evaluate their potential role in the detection of breast cancer minimum residual disease.
Penn’s 2-PREVENT program focuses on the collaboration of clinical and basic science researchers with the goal of improving the surveillance, prevention, and treatment of recurrent breast cancer. Applied Cells MARS technologies will be evaluated in clinical trials to determine whether they will successfully pre-enrich extremely low frequency cancer cells in bone marrow samples that might result in high recovery. Applied Cells MARS workflow reduces human factors and ensures standardized operation, which are required for the trial.
“I am glad our MARS technologies will have the opportunity to be tested for ability to provide simplicity and desired performance,” said Dr. Yuchen Zhou, CEO of Applied Cells. “We are very excited to further our collaboration with Penn Medicine to utilize MARS to investigate whether this technology can advance the detection of rare cancer cells in a multi-center breast cancer trial.”
“If successful, it will allow us to refine and extend our efforts to detect ultra-rare disseminated tumor cells in breast cancer patients with early stage disease,” said Dr. Lewis Chodosh, Chairman of the Department of Cancer Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “We believe this approach has the potential to markedly improve the sensitivity with which this critical reservoir of cancer cells can be detected and characterized in patients – which will need to be confirmed in clinical trials.”
About Applied Cells
Applied Cells was founded to create revolutionary cell separation and enrichment products, which can increase cell separation efficiency by fundamentally changing how physics is employed in the process. Applied Cells commits in battles against cancer by providing tools that are not only capable of isolating rarest cancer cells, but also capable of extracting highest quality immune cells to achieve better cell therapy outcome, while for a fraction of current market costs to enable broader access. MARS is a registered trademark of Applied Cells.
Contacts
Janette Phi
Applied Cells Inc.
CCO
