A few circulating cancer cells could cue risk of metastases

Research combines novel molecular imaging techniques to predict spread of cancer and patient survival based on outlier cancer cells in the blood

2014-06-09

(Press-News.org) St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – A simple noninvasive blood test matched with state-of-the-art molecular imaging of individual cells could help oncologists understand their patients' chances of survival, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting.

Metastasis accounts for an estimated 90 percent of cancer deaths. For decades, researchers tried to develop a way to gauge a cancer's risk of metastasizing from a blood sample—the long-sought-after liquid biopsy. Today there are numerous methods available to isolate lone cells. Novel methods recently used to study those cells are radioluminescence microscopy, which combines nuclear medicine, optical imaging and single-cell autoradiography (SCAR), used to localize the micro-distribution of radioactive substances in a single cell in order to image a particular physiological process, such as a receptor expressing genetic information or an enzyme involved in cellular metabolism.

"We are now starting to study the properties of these lone cancer cells, which could be predictive of different disease states and that understanding could help guide therapy decisions," said Laura S. Sasportas, a principal researcher and PhD candidate in the Gambhir Lab in the department of bioengineering at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. "The great potential of looking at circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been limited mainly by their extreme rarity. For example, in the case of breast cancer, CTCs are estimated to be in the order of a few to a few hundred cells among billions of blood cells in a typical 7.5 milliliter blood sample from a cancer patient. In the past decade, however, CTC research has been booming due to the development of exciting new technologies that can sensitively detect and harvest those very rare cells from patient's blood."

For this study, researchers took breast cancer cells isolated from the blood of small animal models and imaged them using radioluminescence microscopy and SCAR along with a common molecular imaging radiotracer called F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). The latter mirrors the exchange of energy in the presence of glucose in order to target the few hyper-metabolic cancer cells within these blood samples. Results of the research showed that less than three percent of CTCs in the sample indicated increased cellular metabolism compared to the parent cancer cell line. Researchers are not yet sure if this indicates an aggressive cancer cell or not. Further research and validation in clinical trials is needed to strengthen the theory.

"We hypothesize that the unexplored metabolic characterization of CTCs could provide valuable information for disease monitoring," said Sasportas. "By evaluating the glucose metabolism of CTCs with F-18 FDG, we could better manage the care of cancer patients by improving therapy selection and therefore avoiding unnecessary treatment."

Cancer remains a top cause of death across the globe. It was thought to account for approximately 8.2 million deaths in 2012, according to current World Health Organizations statistics. Lung, liver, stomach, colorectal and breast cancer are associated with the highest mortality.

INFORMATION: Scientific Paper 8: Laura S. Sasportas, Sanjiv S. Gambhir, Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Silvan Turkcan, Guillem Pratx, Radiation Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, "Single cell metabolomics in circulating tumor cells," SNMMI's 61th Annual Meeting, June 7, 2014, St. Louis, Missouri.

About the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) is an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to raising public awareness about nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, a vital element of today's medical practice that adds an additional dimension to diagnosis, changing the way common and devastating diseases are understood and treated and helping provide patients with the best health care possible.

SNMMI's more than 18,000 members set the standard for molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice by creating guidelines, sharing information through journals and meetings and leading advocacy on key issues that affect molecular imaging and therapy research and practice. For more information, visit http://www.snmmi.org.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Molecular imaging finds novel way to knock down breast cancer

2014-06-09

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – For years researchers have been developing molecular imaging techniques that visualize hormonally active breast cancer cells—specifically those testing positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). A recent innovation in breast cancer biomarkers seeks the HER3 receptor instead, which could mean more comprehensive breast cancer imaging and potential treatments, say experts presenting data during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of ...

PSMA-based imaging traces even treatment-resistant prostate cancer

2014-06-09

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Anti-androgen hormonal therapy, also called chemical castration, can be an important defense against further disease progression for patients with prostate cancer that has traveled and grown in other areas, or metastasized—but some cases simply do not respond to this treatment. A groundbreaking molecular imaging agent has been developed to help clinicians find as much cancer as possible, whether it is responding favorably or not, in an effort to improve clinical decision making for these patients, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear ...

Molecular breast imaging protocol unmasks more cancer

2014-06-09

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Patients with advanced breast cancer that may have spread to their lymph nodes could benefit from a more robust dose of a molecular imaging agent called Tc-99m filtered sulfur colloid when undergoing lymphoscintigraphy, a functional imaging technique that scouts new cancer as it begins to metastasize. Best results also indicate that imaging could be improved by injecting the agent the day prior to surgical resection, according to research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. "The innovative ...

Presurgical SPECT/CT shows more cancer than current standard

2014-06-09

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Startling data from an international multi-center trial provide growing evidence that sentinel node imaging is more effectively accomplished with hybrid functional imaging with single photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) than with another molecular imaging technique called lymphoscintigraphy. This conclusion held after imaging a range of cancers displaying a variety of lymphatic drainage types associated with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer; breast carcinoma; and malignancies of the pelvis, such as prostate ...

Connecting dead ends increases power grid stability

2014-06-09

Climate change mitigation strategies such as the German Energiewende require linking vast numbers of new power generation facilities to the grid. As the input from many renewable sources is rather volatile, depending on how much the wind blows or the sun shines, there's a higher risk of local power instabilities and eventually blackouts. Scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now employed a novel concept from nonlinear systems analysis called basin stability to tackle this challenge. They found that connecting dead ends can significantly ...

Einstein & Montefiore present research at American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions

2014-06-09

June 9, 2014 – (BRONX, NY) – Investigators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center will present their latest research at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions. Einstein-Montefiore scientists and clinicians are participating in nearly three dozen presentations, sessions and symposia during the five-day meeting. They will address a range of basic, translational and clinical research topics—from medication adherence in adolescents and the impact on resveratrol and vitamin D on insulin resistance to epigenetic ...

Designing ion 'highway systems' for batteries

2014-06-09

Since the early 1970s, lithium has been the most popular element for batteries: it's the lightest of all metals and has the greatest electrochemical potential. But a lithium-based battery has a major disadvantage: it's highly flammable, and when it overheats, it can burst into flames. For years, scientists have searched for safer battery materials that still have the same advantages as lithium. While plastics (or polymers) seemed like an obvious choice, researchers never fully understood how the material would change when an ion charge was introduced. Now a Northwestern ...

CU researchers explain mechanism that helps viruses spread

2014-06-09

AURORA, Colo. (June 9, 2014) – In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues explain how RNA molecules found in certain viruses mimic the shape of other molecules as part of a strategy to 'hijack' the cell and make more viruses. The findings by Jeffrey S. Kieft, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the School of Medicine and an early career scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and his colleagues solve a biochemical and molecular mystery that has ...

Satellite sees System 90L dissipating over Mexico

2014-06-09

NASA and NOAA satellites are gathering visible, infrared, microwave and radar data on a persistent tropical low pressure area in the southwestern Bay of Campeche. System 90L now has a 50 percent chance for development, according to the National Hurricane Center and continues to drop large amounts of rainfall over southeastern Mexico. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered infrared data on the developing low on June 5 at 18:59 UTC (2:59 p.m. EDT). Basically, AIRS looks at the infrared region of the spectrum. In a spectrum, ...

Scientists may have identified echoes of ancient Earth

2014-06-09

A group of scientists believe that a previously unexplained isotopic ratio from deep within the Earth may be a signal from material from the time before the Earth collided with another planet-sized body, leading to the creation of the Moon. This may represent the echoes of the ancient Earth, which existed prior to the proposed collision 4.5 billion years ago. This work is being presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Sacramento, California. The currently favoured theory says that the Moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago, when the Earth collided with a Mars-sized mass, ...