The field of liquid biopsies has exploded over the past several years with tests being conceived and validated for a large number of widely diverse cancer types. However, for a variety of reasons, liquid screens for brain tumors have been anemic—largely due to the extremely low concentrations of circulating central…

A collaborative team of researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Mayo Clinic, and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute (CRUK) have successfully shown that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), shed into the blood stream from cancer cells, can be used to track the progression of cancers and their response to…

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have harnessed the power of next-generation sequencing to analyze a large collection of leukemia tissue samples. Using whole exome sequencing (WES), the investigators screened genetic material from more than 500 samples of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)…

Those of you who have a working knowledge of applied Latin can do a quick and easy translation and deduce that pons asinorum literally means the “bridge of donkeys.” Traditionally, it refers to the proof of the isosceles triangle theorem in Euclid’s Elements, and connotes a challenge that separates the…

Working with tissue, blood, and DNA from six people with precancerous and cancerous lung lesions, scientists from Johns Hopkins scientists say they have identified what they believe are among the very earliest premalignant genetic changes that mark the potential onset of the most common and deadliest form of disease. In…

Paradigm and TME Research launched the Paradigm Neoadjuvant Breast Registry. The system will use Paradigm’s PCDx next-generation sequencing test and other advanced molecular capabilities to genomically characterize invasive breast cancer patients for targeted neoadjuvant therapies [presurgical treatment]. With more accurate accounts of individual gene variability driving disease, therapy selection will be…

Conducted repeatedly, a blood test capable of profiling circulating tumor DNA can track genetic changes that occur over time, picking up signs that a treated cancer—in this case, breast cancer—is about to return. The blood test, a so-called liquid biopsy, detects mutations in DNA shed by cancer cells, and it…

While the incidence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is still relatively rare, accounting for approximately 1% of cancer deaths in the U.S., rates of occurrence are expected to rise as the largest portion of the population continues to age. Moreover, there remains a significant level of disparity in clinical outcomes,…

Sequenom agreed to a clinical research collaboration with the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center. Moores will explore the utility of Sequenom's new liquid biopsy assay to profile circulating cell-free tumor DNA in blood to enable serial monitoring and assist with therapy selection in cancer patients. This technology…

One of the main goals of personalized medicine is the ablity to quickly and accurately determine the genetic background of a patient and prescribe the appropriate therapy based on their mutational signature. To address this vital component of modern medicine initiatives, researchers have designed a new form of clinical trial,…

If molecular diagnostic tests are to keep pace with fast-evolving microbes, they will have to find an “extra gear.” Existing gears—single pathogen tests and multiplexed panels—have their advantages, mostly with respect to specificity. But specificity is of little help when one is chasing a moving target, as one is obliged…

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center report that in a genome-sequencing study of pancreatic cancers and blood in 101 patients at least one-third of the patients' tumors have genetic mutations that may someday help guide precision therapy of their disease. Results of blood tests to detect DNA shed from…

Most of us have used a mapping app at some point, whether for driving directions, finding the best route to the closest subway stop, or just to look at places on the globe we might like to visit one day. The power of these programs is derived from their ability…

CHICAGO—Clinical investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that they will begin open patient enrollment in July for the much anticipated Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) precision medicine trial. The Phase II study will seek…

The initial diagnosis of cancer is usually based on taking a physical biopsy and then a skilled interpretation by a pathologist followed by tumor genome sequencing to generate informed treatment decisions.  Numerous genomic targets have been utilized as diagnostic markers for treatment with specific therapeutics. Indeed several anticancer therapies require…