Abstract
Breakthroughs in deep molecular profiling of non-invasive clinical samples (“liquid biopsy”) promise to revolutionize how cancer is detected and monitored. Analyzing circulating biomarkers in patient blood has shown their diagnostic potential in advanced disease states. Early detection, however, remains challenging – most biomarkers either (i) arise in advanced disease and at low abundance or (ii) often suffer from poor specificity, thus creating false positives that are costly and stressful for patients. We have been exploring extracellular vesicles (EVs) as a new biomarker that may overcome these challenges. EVs are nanoscale membrane particles secreted by cells. Most types of cancer shed large numbers of EVs that carry molecular cargo from the parent tumor. Analyzing EVs thus can represent a new real-time window to detect, diagnose, and serially monitor tumor molecular status. This presentation will describe our recent advances that leverage EVs for early cancer detection. Specifically, we will discuss the single EV analysis (SEA) platform that characterizes individual EVs for multiple protein markers. This method helps us unveil EV heterogeneity, which maximizes biological information content (specificity and sensitivity) for tumor-derived vesicles. We will review the SEA’s development and pilot application to diagnose early cancers.
Citation Format: Hakho Lee, Cesar M. Castro. Early cancer detection through the analyses of extracellular vesicles. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Precision Prevention, Early Detection, and Interception of Cancer; 2022 Nov 17-19; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2023;16(1 Suppl): Abstract nr IA020.
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