Researchers use ScreenCell® to enrich Breast Cancer CTC Biomarkers

ScreenCell has entered into a collaborative study with the Jefferson Breast Care Center at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia to evaluate the effectiveness of ScreenCell’s proprietary devices and protocols for enrichment of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) from peripheral blood. ScreenCell technology separates CTCs from blood components by differential size.

“Although we have utilized CTC enumeration techniques for blood samples from patients based on whether the cell is producing the EpCam marker (Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule) on the surface of the cell, we have shown that in 30-40% of metastatic breast cancer cases, such tests could be negative,” said Massimo Cristofanilli MD, Director of the Jefferson Breast Care Center . “These cases are especially important for us to understand due to the high mutation rate. The molecular characterization of these EpCam negative cells assessing individual gene sequence and protein
expression is an important step to improve our efforts in advancing precision medicine . We are hopeful that the ScreenCell technology and enrichment protocols will enable us to achieve these
research objectives.”

“Our scientists at ScreenCell Laboratories work closely with clinical research sites in order to provide the most effective customized protocols, and we have hosted Dr. Zhaomei Wu from Dr. Cristofanilli’s lab at our laboratory in Paris. We look forward to working with Dr. Cristofanilli’s entire research
team”, said Georges Uzan PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at ScreenCell.

David Znaty, ScreenCell’s CEO stated, “We are delighted to be working with the research team at Jefferson to help accelerate the characterization of circulating tumor cells from breast cancer patients. We are committed to help cancer researchers address these challenges.”