Technologies

Cancer arises from inappropriate expansion of one single cell that has lost controls of both replication and natural cell death. Replication and cell death are normally controlled by the balance between positive and negative cell cycle regulators, and not by a single cell cycle regulator.

There is no diagnostic test currently on the market that assays the balance between positive and negative regulators. An in situ functional assay - one that reveals where in the cell cycle a given precancerous or cancer cell is -- is sorely needed for guiding therapy.

The tests employ standard methods and commercially available reagents. The assays can be performed on virtually any type of specimen (e.g. blood or an aspirate, an endoscopic biopsy, a large resection, a decalcified bone marrow). The novelty lies in the combination of reagents, allowing for the analysis of specific subpopulations of cells and excluding others.