Data from the whole-genome sequencing of tumors from individual cancer patients may be used to develop individualized blood tests that can help physicians tailor treatments to the individual patient, according to results reported by researchers from Johns Hopkins and Life Technologies. The genome-based blood tests, believed to be the first of their kind, may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and determine cancer recurrence. This ground-breaking work may help bring the age of personalized medicine right to the cancer patient’s bedside. The sequencing in this project was carried out using the SOLiD next-generation sequencing platform (photo) from Life Technologies."We believe this is the first application of newer generations of whole-genome sequencing that could be clinically useful for cancer patients," says Dr. Victor Velculescu, co-director of the cancer biology program at Johns Hopkins and senior author of the report. "Using this approach, we can develop biomarkers for potentially any cancer patient." In their study, the scientists scanned the genomes of patients' tumors looking for alterations that they say most researchers have not been looking for—i.e., rearrangements of large chunks of DNA rather than changes in a single DNA letter among billions of others. Such DNA rearrangements are widely known to occur exclusively in cancer cells, not normal ones, making them ideal biomarkers for cancer. The researchers call their new approach Personalized Analysis of Rearranged Ends (PARE). "PARE uses genetic characteristics unique to the tumor to monitor disease progression. By exploiting rearrangements specific to the patient's tumor, we have developed a personalized approach for detection of residual disease," said lead author Rebecca Leary, a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
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