Clinical Research Directory

Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells for the Diagnostic of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.

Histological proof is a crucial and necessary step for appropriate care in oncology. In the case of pancreatic cancer, histological proof from pathological analysis of the surgical specimen is very rare due to the limited number (15-20 %) of localized tumor accessible to surgical resection. In most cases, invasive endoscopic explorations are necessary for histological diagnosis before deciding of the most appropriate treatment (palliative chemotherapy or radiochemotherapy). The endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is currently considered as the first-line endoscopic procedure for the cytological diagnosis of solid pancreatic tumors. The technique is performed under general anesthesia with sensitivity for the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of 80% in case of a single procedure and 92% in situations where three different procedures are required. EUS-FNA has to be performed by a physician properly trained for this type of interventional endoscopy. Some severe complications may occur but are relatively rare in expert centers (bleeding, perforation, complications of general anesthesia ...). Diagnostic alternative approach is biological with research in the peripheral blood of markers of tumor disease. It is possible to detect indirect markers which are molecules produced by tumor tissue (eg CA19.9) and direct markers which reflect the presence of tumor biological material (circulating tumor cells (CTCs) or circulating tumor DNA). The value of detection of CTCs is not determined for the diagnostic and therapeutic management of pancreatic cancer. Indeed, no study has evaluated the diagnosis performance of circulating markers with EUS-FNA, the reference method for the diagnosis of unresectable forms.

The Difference of microRNA and Circulating Tumor Cells in Blood Among Cancer Patients With Immunotherapy

Among the currently important biomarkers, circulating tumor cells and microRNA (miRNA) have received significant attention. The latter, also translated as micro-ribonucleic acid, is a widely present ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule in eukaryotes, approximately 21 to 23 nucleotides in length, which regulates the expression of other genes. miRNAs originate from RNAs that are transcribed from DNA but cannot be further translated into proteins (classified as non-coding RNA). miRNAs bind to target messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting post-transcriptional gene expression, and play important roles in regulating gene expression, the cell cycle, and the timing of biological development.The project will recruit 300 subjects who have been diagnosed with cancer by a physician and for whom the decision has been made to use immunotherapy. Blood samples will be collected before and after treatment (past pathological diagnostic tissues may also be reviewed as required for the study). The study will analyze the differences in the quantity of free microRNAs, the number of circulating tumor cells, and the differences in surface antigen expression in the subjects' blood, as well as the specific surface antigen expression status in the cancer tissues, and perform statistical analysis.

In Vivo Liquid Biopsy of Melanoma (Cytophone)

The Cytophone is a first in the world patented system to identify and count single circulating melanoma cells in blood circulation inside the human body. The Cytophone has a unique capability to find rare melanoma cells in the blood by an assessment of 100-500 times greater amounts of blood volume than routine blood tests. The important benefit of the Cytophone diagnosis is that the test does not require injection or any skin incision (i.e., non-invasiveness). The goal of this clinical trial is to demonstrate evidence of the capability of the Cytophone test to indicate a risk of metastasis and define CTC counts that correlate with melanoma recurrence, progression of metastatic disease, and therapy efficacy. The investigators believe that clinical trials will provide evidence that the Cytophone can diagnose risk of melanoma metastasis and recurrence earlier than existing methods.

Liquid Biopsy Collection Study

The purpose of this study is to develop a liquid biopsy approach for detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) that could be used in place of the more invasive and potentially risky methods of tissue biopsy. The aims of the project are: (a) determine whether the Chaperonin-Containing TCP-1 (CCT) chaperonin can used to identify rare cancer cells in blood, and (b) establish whether the cancer cells detected using the CCT chaperonin for identification have invasive or metastatic potential.