The Advalytix product team of Olympus is initiating a collaborative study with the University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The study aims to characterise circulating tumour cells in breast cancer patients.
It will combine Advalytix's Ampligrid molecular analysis platform, multiplex primer design and integrated workflow to analyse expression of multiple target genes in single tumour cells.
Dr Massimo Cristofanilli, associate professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, said: 'The goal is to develop powerful tools to monitor the response to treatment, improve early detection, and personalise treatment for our patients.' Ampligrid allows the MD Anderson team to measure heterogeneity by comparing the genetic profiles of individual tumour cells.
Establishing the clinical relevance of heterogeneity requires studying a large number of clinical specimens.
Ampligrid meets these throughput requirements with a simple workflow that integrates the steps needed for each clinical specimen, namely cell sorting, sample preparation, and PCR.