Liquid biopsies offer promise and challenges

Extracellular Vesicles and the Promise of Continuous Liquid Biopsies

The rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with minimally invasive procedures was once only found in science fiction. However, the discovery of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their near ubiquity in body fluids, coupled with the advent of inexpensive next generation sequencing techniques and EV purification protocols, promises to make science fiction a reality. Purifying and sequencing the R...

Challenges in using liquid biopsies for gene expression profiling

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have potential utility as a surrogate biomarker of tumor biology via a liquid biopsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the nCounter NanoString assay could be used for accurate gene expression profiling of CTCs using the PAM50 research-use-only CodeSet. Analysis was performed on CTCs isolated by the ANGLE Parsortix system from healthy blood spiked with the ...

Stroke: Challenges, Progress, and Promise

HPV Testing: Promise and Challenges

most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), is the primary cause of cervical cancer. HPV infection is a necessary but not sufficient precursor to cervical cancer. While the cumulative lifetime incidence of acquiring HPV is 70 to 80 percent in many countries, the vast majority of women with HPV infection will not develop cancer (see PATH’s fact sheet, Natural History of Cervical Cancer)....

The Offer of an Act For a Promise