Track 3: Advancing Cancer Therapy
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
7:30-8:15 am Breakfast Presentations (Opportunities Available)
Contact Ilana Quigley, Manager, Business Development, at 781-972-5457 or iquigley@healthtech.com.
8:25-8:30 Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Robert McCormack, Ph.D., Vice President, Scientific and Medical Affairs, Veridex, LLC
8:30-9:00 Circulating Tumor Cells in Drug Development: Bench to Bedside
Robert McCormack, Ph.D., Vice President, Scientific and Medical Affairs, Veridex, LLC
The application of circulating tumor cells (CTC) to basic and translational research has been hindered by the lack of an automated instrument required to reproducibly detect and enumerate these rare cells in blood. Introduced in 2004, the FDA-cleared CellSearch System and accompanying reagents have enabled CTC enumeration to be used as predictive and prognostic indicators in patients with metastatic breast, prostate or colorectal cancers. Moreover, the interrogation of captured CTCs at the protein, RNA and DNA levels has clearly demonstrated application of CTC to drug discovery. Collectively, molecular profiling and enumeration of CTC allow for basic research into aberrant molecular pathways, identification of suitable targets for patient therapy, and monitoring the effectiveness of those therapies in patients with a single tube of blood. The application of CTC technology to the entire spectrum of drug development will be discussed.
9:00-9:30 Molecular Profiling of Circulating Tumor Cells as Pharmacodynamic Markers in Clinical Trials
Darren W. Davis, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, ApoCell, Inc.
Rare subpopulations of cells from the blood, primarily circulating tumor cells, can be indicative of several metastatic cancers. The enumeration of these cells and their downstream profiling for proteomic and genomic markers allow for the noninvasive, real time measurement of trial drug efficacy, the design of personalized therapies, and the prediction of patient outcome. We present examples and case studies demonstrating how we have used CTC enumeration and profiling to support clinical trials. Finally, we will present a vision for identifying, dissecting, and quantifying multi-component, interactive processes at the cellular and systemic levels that are mediated by the complex and unexplored milieu of aberrant rare cells (including CTCs) that enter the bloodstream during tumor progression and metastasis.
9:30-10:00 Title to be Announced
Evelyn M. Mckeegan, Ph.D., Group Leader, Cancer Biomarkers, Abbott Laboratories
10:00-10:30 Networking Coffee Break
10:30-11:00 Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in the Blood of Cancer Patients using a Process which Only Depletes Normal Cells
Jeffrey J. Chalmers, Ph.D., Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering;
Director, University Cell Analysis and Sorting Core, The Ohio State University
We have developed a rare cell enrichment technology which can enrich for circulating tumor cells by only targeting normal cells. In one study of 47 blood samples from patients with Head and Neck cancer, 53 percent contained CTCs and the number of CTCs identified per ml of blood collected ranged from 0 to 2,632. The final purity ranged from 1 CTC in 9 total cells to 1 CTC in 20,000 total cells, the final purity being both a function of the number of CTC’s and the performance of the specific enrichment. Since only normal cells were targeted, a number of different tumor cell markers can be used. In addition to being positive for cytokeratin markers, CTCs can also be positive for vimentin and potential cancer stem cell markers such as CD44. Initial patient outcome correlations will be presented.
11:00-11:30 Non-Invasive Detection and Elimination of Circulating Tumor Cells using in vivo Photoacoustic Blood Cancer Test
Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D., D.Sc., Professor, Director, Laser Research, Phillips Classic Laser and Nanomedicine Laboratories, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
The clinical utility of circulating tumor cells (CTC) for prevention of metastasis remains unclear, since incurable metastases may already be present at the time of the initial diagnosis. We introduce a novel ultra-sensitive method using a flow cytometry schematic for in vivo, non-invasive photoacoustic blood cancer testing directly in the bloodstream. This assay is based either on label-free counting of CTCs with over-expressed intrinsic biomarkers or on using functionalized gold nanoparticles as high-contrast photoacoustic multicolor molecular agents. The study on tumor-bearing mouse models and spiked human blood samples demonstrated detection of rare melanoma and breast CTCs prior to the development of metastases. If oncoming pilot clinical trials are successful, this technology can provide breakthroughs in early CTC detection and metastasis prevention.
11:30-12:00 Genome-Subtractive Cancer-Specific Blood Assay
Amin Kassis, Ph.D., Director, Radiobiology and Experimental Radionuclide Therapy, Harvard Medical School
Many Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) undergo apoptosis and die. We postulated that the clearance of such cells (and subcellular fragments thereof) from circulation by phagocytic WBC leads to the acquisition of tumor-specific signatures specifically by these cells and the absence of these signatures in nonphagocytic WBC. Preliminary studies in tumor-bearing mice and cancer patients have shown that (i) oncogenes and tumor-specific genomic signatures are selectively expressed within phagocytic WBC; (ii) these genes are not expressed or are underexpressed in nonphagocytic cells; and (iii) the assay can differentiate between tumor-bearing animals/patients and nontumor bearing mice and healthy blood donors with 100% accuracy.
12:00 Close of Congress