Biocept, Inc. and Academic Collaborators to Present Posters at American Association for Cancer Research on Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs)
SAN DIEGO, March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Biocept, Inc. today reported that its scientists and academic collaborators will present four posters at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) taking place in Orlando, FloridaApril 2-6, 2011. The poster presentations are based on studies utilizing Biocept's novel technology for the capture, detection, and analysis of circulating tumor cell (CTCs) in human clinical samples. This technology, Biocept's proprietary OncoCEE (Oncology Cell Enrichment and Extraction) platform, enables not only CTC enumeration but also biomarker analysis as demonstrated in several of the posters. These data represent a broad scope of findings from studies involving blood and tumor samples from patients with breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancers.
Farideh Bischoff, PhD, Director of Translational Research at Biocept, said, "In the poster presentations, data will be discussed that addresses our ability to detect CTCs that do not capture or stain with anti-EpCAM or anti-cytokeratin respectively which is the current method in the market. Also, one of the poster presentations will cover the evaluation of HER2 gene amplification status by FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) in intact CTCs within a microfluidic channel. Biocept's proprietary OncoCEE platform, which provides the ability to perform cytogenetic and molecular characterization of CTCs, may be an important clinically significant tool. We are excited to be developing innovative testing that may enable advances in the treatment of various cancers."
Additional details for the AACR presentations are as follows:
319/12 - Comparison of fluorescence in situ hybridization of estrogen receptor genetic locus with protein expression in invasive breast carcinomaJulie A. Mayer(1), Tam Pham(1), Karina Wong(1), Anthony Lucci(2), Farideh Bischoff(1), Savitri Krishnamurthy(2). (1)Biocept Inc., San Diego, CA; (2)The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Mon, Apr 4, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1553/1 - Redefining CTCs: Detection of cytokeratin-negative circulating tumor cells (CTCs)Chad V. Pecot(1), Farideh Bischoff(2), Yvonne Lin(3), Padmavathi Jaladurgam(1), William Merritt(4), Tony Pircher(2), Steve Mikolajczyk(2), Julie Mayer(2), Karina Wong(2), Tam Pham(2), Justin Bottsford-Miller(1), Rebecca Stone(1), Joseph Celestino(1), Alpa Nick(1), Cathy Eng(1), Anil Sood(1). (1)UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr., Houston, TX; (2)Biocept Incorporated, San Diego, CA; (3)University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; (4)South Carolina Oncology, Columbia, SC
Tue, Apr 5, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Julie A. Mayer, Tony J. Pircher, Stephen D. Mikolajczyk, Philip D. Cotter, Farideh Z. Bischoff. Biocept Inc, San Diego, CA
Wed, Apr 6, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
5172/13 - Fluorescence labeling of cytokeratin-negative circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood: A new paradigm for the study of cancer progressionStephen D. Mikolajczyk, Lisa S. Millar, Maryam Zomorrodi, Farideh Z. Bischoff, Jayne Scoggin, Tam Pham, Karina Wong, Tony J. Pircher. Biocept, Inc., San Diego, CA
The abstracts are available and can be viewed on-line at no charge through the AACR website at http://www.aacr.org, which is not part of this press release.
About Biocept, Inc.
Biocept Laboratories, headquartered in San Diego, California, is an advanced laboratory services company specializing in the capture, detection, isolation, and molecular analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs). Biocept's mission is to enhance the lives of cancer patients through the development of innovative diagnostic products and services. Biocept utilizes patented and innovative technologies to deliver clinically relevant and actionable information to physicians that enable better patient care. This includes clinical assessments of CTCs, both prognostic and predictive, which may provide physicians with important information for the treatment of their patients with cancer.
About OncoCEE
The OncoCEE, developed by Biocept, has demonstrated that it can consistently and accurately capture extremely rare cells, like CTCs, which may be present in only 1 of every 50-100 billion blood cells. Biocept obtains patient samples via a simple blood draw, or "liquid biopsy", instead on relying on traditional biopsy methods or surgical procedures. Biocept differentiates the "liquid biopsy" CTC analysis by incorporating enhanced prognostic (CTC enumeration) and predictive bio-marker (ER, PR and HER2) information not currently offered by commercial laboratories or currently available technologies for breast cancer. Existing methods to detect and enumerate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) rely only on the expression of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and cytokeratins without molecular bio-marker analysis. This limited selection may exclude cells that have undergone intrinsic modifications of their phenotype such as epithelial/mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT may represent a possible explanation for all those patients who, despite an aggressive disease, are found negative for the presence of CTCs. OncoCEE has the potential to capture not only EpCAM but also mesenchymal-like cells. Additionally, the OncoCEE enables in situ analysis of predictive biomarkers by ER, PR, and HER2. HER2 status is predictive of a potential response to HER2 targeted agents such as tykerb and trastuzumab. Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in the treatment of breast cancer patients.
SOURCE Biocept, Inc.