UCLA researchers in the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology have developed a novel biomarker detection method for circulating blood cell-free RNA.
BACKGROUND: Approximately 39% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes. Circulating tumor cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is being increasingly used as a non-invasive biomarker for early cancer diagnostics and determination of therapy efficacy. cfDNA is found in the bloodstream and includes DNA that comes from cancerous cells and tumors that have died and shed DNA. However, cfDNA sequencing can be cost-prohibitive and require an extensive panel of gene mutations to obtain relevant information. There is therefore a need for an effective technique to cheaply and effectively determine cancer diagnoses and progression based on other approaches. INNOVATION: UCLA researchers have developed a novel suite of cfRNA biomarkers from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In a pilot study, researchers measured cfRNA from plasma collected from three patients that were treated with a proprietary compound. Using a panel of 300 OSCC marker genes identified from publicly available data and the patient biopsies, UCLA researchers could detect changes in tumor-specific biomarker gene expression post treatments. Increases in the circulating RNA of four key genes was detected in the plasma of patients at 3 hours and/or 24 hours post treatments with a proprietary compound. These RNAs are believed to be released from tumor cells undergoing apoptosis following treatment POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS: • Diagnosis of cancer, including cancer subtypes • Monitoring cancer progression • Determination of therapy efficacy ADVANTAGES: • Allows for quantifiable measurements of disease state and disease progression • Requires a plasma sample instead of a tumor biopsy DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE: UCLA researchers have run a pilot study of 3 patients with OSCC to determine cfRNA biomarkers.