Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are testing a new technique for identifying circulating genetically abnormal cells, which can lead to poor prognosis, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

These genetically abnormal cells are most likely circulating tumour cells, shed from a malignant tumour. Increased numbers of these cells were associated with relapse of disease and poorer survival, according to study results.

Identifying these cells using the current FDA-approved test is quite challenging because the current test, which is based on an antibody that adheres to the surface of circulating epithelial cells, is not very sensitive.

In a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Dr Ruth L. Katz, professor of pathology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and her colleagues used a fluorescence in situ hybridisation method for detection of genetically abnormal cells, without resorting to antibody capture. They found that patients with non-small cell lung cancer had significantly higher levels of circulating abnormal cells than controls, and the numbers of abnormal cells increased with the stage of disease.

"The numbers of genetically abnormal cells in the bloodstream of lung cancer patients were far more than we had originally expected. Similar genetic abnormalities were also found to be present in the malignant cells from the patients' lung cancers, and there were more abnormal blood cells in advanced-stage disease compared to early-stage disease", said Dr Katz.

Dr Minetta Liu, director of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, speaking durance a teleconference, added "This paper is an excellent example of our efforts to personalise cancer therapeutics. An increased understanding of the nature and origins of circulating tumour cells will enable us to better assess their significance and impact. This, in turn, will improve our ability to manage patients with malignancies."

Source: American Association for Cancer Research