In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, we are spotlighting critical research to advance understanding of cancer and associated treatments. Over one million new cancer cases are reported annually, and data reported by the National Cancer Institute in 2018 shows approximately 38.4% of people will receive a cancer diagnosis at some point in their lifetime.1 Lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer remain at the top of the list for annual new cases.2
Male cancer patients experience higher mortality than female, particularly African American males.1 The good news is that in 2016, there were an estimated 15.5 million cancer survivors and it is expected this number will reach 20.3 million by 2026.1
In vitro and in vivo studies continue to be at the forefront of cancer breakthroughs and achievements, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Though there has been progress over the past 20 years, researchers still find themselves challenged by the complex tumor microenvironment, tumor heterogeneity, and dynamic immune and metabolic responses. With less than 10% of cancer drugs receiving approval from the FDA and increasing annual cases, continued rigorous research will be required to maintain progress in treatments and survivability.
Advancing Oncology Research
The Harvard Bioscience family of brands offer industry-leading solutions to drive powerful conclusions in oncology research and treatment development. Below you will find an overview of solutions for both in vivo and in vitro applications and corresponding publications citing their use.
Physiologic Investigation and Treatment Development
DSI offers preclinical monitoring solutions for researchers interested in looking at the physiological effects tumors and treatments have on the whole body. Specifically, they enable monitoring for cardio-oncology, circadian rhythms, glucose metabolism, thermoregulation, and tumor pressure.
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Antisecretory Factor-Mediated Inhibition of Cell Volume Dynamics Produces Antitumor Activity in Glioblastoma3
Antisense oligonucleotides on neurobehavior, respiratory, and cardiovascular function, and hERG channel current studies4
Tumor-Induced Pressure in the Bone Microenvironment Causes Osteocytes to Promote the Growth of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases5
Infuse, Sort, and Characterize
Harvard Apparatus syringe pumps are used in various oncological research applications. For example, the precise flow of a Harvard Apparatus syringe pump in concert with a microfluidic chip solution can sort circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood for analysis. Also, our Pump 11 Elite Nanomite is an essential tool for characterizing intercranial cancer tumors and the drugs that can treat them.
Exploring the Biomechanical Properties of Brain Malignancies and Their Pathologic Determinants In Vivo with Magnetic Resonance Elastography6
New Labyrinth Microfuidic Device Detects Circulating Tumor Cells Expressing Cancer Stem Cell Marker and Circulating Tumor Microemboli in Hepatocellular Carcinoma7
Cell Line Investigation
Electroporation is a popular technique used to insert vectors of DNA or RNA into cells, using a controlled electrical field, without damaging the cells. BTX ECM 630, ECM 830 and Gemini are widely used to performed electroporation of research cell lines for cancerous and tumor studies. Electroporation can also be used in an irreversible way, to kill cells and activate antigen production.
Wnt7a Counteracts Cancer Cachexia8
A non-functional neoepitope specific CD8+ T-cell response induced by tumor derived antigen exposure in vivo9
Engineering T cell response to cancer antigens by choice of focal therapeutic conditions10
Molecular, Cellular, and Amino Acid Analysis
Biochrom offers several solutions serving a wide range of applications in oncology research. The EZ Read family of microplate readers are commonly used in cell viability and proliferation assays to understand growth rates as well as the effects of potential drug candidates on tumor cells.
Spectrophotometry plays a key role in researching the molecular basis of oncogenes and therapeutics. Biochrom provides a full range of instruments from the BioDrop form microvolume nucleic acid quantification to the Ultrospec range for use in measuring enzyme kinetics.
The Bio30+ Amino Acid Analyzer from Biochrom is used for in depth protein analysis in various cancer pathways and aids in the understanding of the importance of amino acids in cancer metabolism.
ANLN and KDR Are Jointly Prognostic of Breast Cancer Survival and Can Be Modulated for Triple Negative Breast Cancer Control11
Overexpression of miR-15b-5p promotes gastric cancer metastasis by regulating PAQR312
Quantitative analysis of amino acid metabolism in liver cancer links glutamate excretion to nucleotide synthesis13
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References
1National Cancer Institute. (2020). “Cancer Statistics”. NIH. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics
2The Global Cancer Observatory. (2019). “All Cancers”. GLOBOSCAN. https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/39-All-cancers-fact-sheet.pdf
3Ilkhanizadeh S, Sabelström H, Miroshnikova YA, et al. (2018). “Antisecretory Factor-Mediated Inhibition of Cell Volume Dynamics Produces Antitumor Activity in Glioblastoma”. Molecular Cancer Research, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-17-0413
4Kim TW, Kim KS, Seo JW, Park SY, Henry SP. (2014). “Antisense oligonucleotides on neurobehavior, respiratory, and cardiovascular function, and hERG channel current studies”. Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods, 69(1): 49-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vascn.2013.10.005
5Sottnik JL, Dai J, Zhang H, Campbell B, Keller ET. (2015). “Tumor-Induced Pressure in the Bone Microenvironment Causes Osteocytes to Promote the Growth of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases”. Cancer Research, 75(11). https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-2493
6Jamin Y, Boult JKR, Li J, Popov S, et al. (2015). “Exploring the Biomechanical Properties of Brain Malignancies and Their Pathologic Determinants In Vivo with Magnetic Resonance Elastography”. Cancer Research, 75(7). https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-1997
7Wan S, Kim TH, Smith KJ, et al. (2019). “New Labyrinth Microfluidic Device Detects Circulating Tumor Cells Expressing Cancer Stem Cell Marker and Circulating Tumor Microemboli in Hepatocellular Carcinoma”. Scientific Reports, 9: 18575. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54960-y
8Schmidt M, Poser C, von Maltzahn J. (2020). “Wnt7a Counteracts Cancer Cachexia”. Molecular Therapy – Oncolytics, 16: 134-146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omto.2019.12.011
9Vormehr M, Reinhard K, Blatnik R, et al. (2019). “A non-functional neoepitope specific CD8+ T-cell response induced by tumor derived antigen exposure in vivo”. OncoImmunology, 3. https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402X.2018.1553478
10Shao Q, O’Flanagan S, Lam T, et al. (2019). “Engineering T cell response to cancer antigens by choice of focal therapeutic conditions”. International Journal of Hyperthermia, 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/02656736.2018.1539253
11Dai X, Mei Y, Chen X, Cai D. (2019). “ANLN and KDR Are Jointly Prognostic of Breast Cancer Survival and Can Be Modulated for Triple Negative Breast Cancer Control”. Frontiers in Genetics, 10:790. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00790
12Zhao C, Li Y, Chen G, Wang F, Shen Z, Zhou R. (2017). “Overexpression of miR-15b-5p promotes gastric cancer metastasis by regulating PAQR3”. Oncology Reports, 38(1): 352-358. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2017.5673
13Nilsson A, Haanstra JR, Engqvist M, et al. (2020). “Quantitative analysis of amino acid metabolism in liver cancer links glutamate excretion to nucleotide synthesis”. PNAS, 117(19): 10294-10304. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1919250117