Journal article

Characterising the phenotypic evolution of circulating tumour cells during treatment

SCH Tsao, J Wang, Y Wang, A Behren, J Cebon, M Trau

Nature Communications | NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP | Published : 2018

Open access

Abstract

Real-time monitoring of cancer cells' phenotypic evolution during therapy can provide vital tumour biology information for treatment management. Circulating tumour cell (CTC) analysis has emerged as a useful monitoring tool, but its routine usage is restricted by either limited multiplexing capability or sensitivity. Here, we demonstrate the use of antibody-conjugated and Raman reporter-coated gold nanoparticles for simultaneous labelling and monitoring of multiple CTC surface markers (named as "cell signature"), without the need for isolating individual CTCs. We observe cell heterogeneity and phenotypic changes of melanoma cell lines during molecular targeted treatment. Furthermore, we foll..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Victorian Cancer Agency


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the ARC DECRA (DE140101056) awarded to Dr. Y.W. We would like to acknowledge the funding support from the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia to M.T. (CG-12-07). These grants have significantly contributed to the environment to stimulate the research described here. The Raman imaging was conducted at Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (QANFF). S.C.T. is supported by the Australian Postgraduate Award and the Royal Australian College of Surgeons Foundation for Surgery Research Scholarship. J.W. is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships. A.B. is supported by a MCRF (17019) from the Victorian Cancer Agency (VCA). We also acknowledge Kevin M. Koo and Dr. Darren Korbie for manuscript revision. We would also like to acknowledge Joanne Hawking and Christopher Hudson for their assistance with patient sample collection. We would also like to thank Ocean Optics for generously loaning the handheld Raman spectrometer used in one of patient sample tests. Most importantly, we would like to thank all the patients for their generosity and support.