RARITAN, N.J., April 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Veridex, LLC (Veridex) announced today that the first study of the company’s next-generation circulating tumor cell (CTC) technology, developed in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), has been published in Science Translational Medicine. The collaboration, initially announced in January 2011, has led to the development of a next-generation CTC (or “liquid biopsy”) technology that offers enhanced specificity and sensitivity and enables more extensive characterization of captured cells.
The new technology tests for CTCs from the blood of cancer patients using advanced microfluidic separation techniques integrated with innovative magnetic sorting to isolate a broad spectrum of rare circulating cancer cells. This technology will allow physicians to get information about a patient’s cancer at the time treatment is being administered, one of the key components to enabling personalized medicine.
Results from the in vitro study showed the integrated system enabled the processing of large blood volumes with high throughput and efficiency, and also allowed for the ability to isolate CTCs from both epithelial and non-epithelial cancers.
In the study, the technology was used to identify the presence of CTCs in patients with cancers of the lung, prostate, pancreas, breast, as well as melanoma.
“Veridex is proud to have introduced CELLSEARCH®, the first and only FDA-cleared CTC test, and we’re excited to work with the team at Massachusetts General Hospital on our next-generation test,” said Nicholas C. Dracopoli , Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Oncology Biomarkers, Janssen Research & Development, LLC.
