ISB News

Dr. Andrew Magis: Identifying Markers for Cancer Years Before Diagnosis

By taking detailed measurements of blood and other biological samples, ISB scientists have shown they can identify markers for cancer years before diagnosis. This was the topic of a recent Research Roundtable presentation delivered by Dr. Andrew Magis, Director of Data Science in ISB’s Health Data Science Lab.

New Diagnostic Method Predicts Therapy Response in Lung Cancer Patients

By using single-cell analysis to measure metabolic activities in rare disseminated tumor cells taken from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, ISB researchers and their collaborators can accurately predict how patients will respond to various cancer therapies, and how treatments will impact a patient’s physiological performance and survival.

A Mixture of Markers from Two Distinct Cell Types Indicates Poor Prognosis in Breast Cancer

3 Bullets: Identifying the most aggressive cells in cancer (cancer stem cells) is essential for designing effective therapy and predicting patient outcomes. Using single-cell analysis techniques, researchers at ISB and Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine have identified the molecular signatures of two types of malignant breast tissue cells. Researchers found an interesting twist: the two cell types “cooperate” to increase malignancy potential and they promote a third hybrid stem-cell type….

John Chevillet is a postdoc in the Hood Lab at Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle.

ISB Innovations: Ultrasound-Based Tumor Biopsies

Name: John Chevillet, PhD Lab: Hood Research: I am trying to develop an ultrasound-based method to take a sample from a tumor, thus replacing needle biopsies. An ultrasound-based method would minimize complications, better diagnose cancers, and direct the use of targeted therapies for personalized medicine. Wish List: If I had $10,000, I could analyze the blood specimens we currently have for cancer dna to demonstrate what this method can tell…