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Solutions to help advance your oncology research from discovery to clinical commercialization
Liquid biopsy research has emerged as a promising area in the oncology field. As a less invasive approach to tissue biopsies, liquid biopsies contain a heterogenous mixture of biomolecules and have the potential to revolutionize the cancer world by providing us insight into the prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of cancer. Advancements are constantly unfolding and as the area continues to grow, researchers are looking for reliable multi-analyte approaches to study cancer and its complexity. Thermo Fisher Scientific provides end-to-end oncology research workflow solutions that enable various liquid biopsy applications. Find robust sample preparation tools and automated technologies to help drive results in your fight against cancer.
Begin your liquid biopsy workflow with automated sample purification technology that helps provide consistent and reliable downstream results.
Nucleic acid isolation: total, genomic and cell-free DNA & RNA
Nucleic acids found in liquid biopsies offer insight into early cancer detection and treatment response by revealing chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations, and epigenetic changes, serving as essential research tools for cancer screening, diagnosis, and monitoring, as well as for developing targeted therapies and personalized medicines. While tumor tissue is the standard for diagnosis, less invasive liquid biopsies from blood, urine, and saliva are becoming increasingly used for biomarker analysis studies. Effective isolation techniques are crucial to solve for common purification challenges with low concentrations of target isolates, limited sample volumes, and tedious sample processing.
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Circulating tumor cell isolation and enrichment
Analyzing circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from liquid biopsies is important in cancer research for disease monitoring studies. With such low number of CTCs in circulation, highly sensitive methods are necessary to capture and detect down to single cells. Dynabeads magnetic bead technology enhances this process by using antibody-coated beads to selectively bind and isolate target cells when exposed to a magnetic field. This method allows for efficient separation and analysis of CTCs, helping provide insights into minimal residual disease testing and cancer characteristics, mutations, and treatment responses, which are essential for personalized medicine.
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Extracellular vesicle isolation
Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (EV) released by cells into various body fluids, carrying nucleic acids and proteins that facilitate intercellular signaling. When secreted from cancer cells, exosomes transport molecular cargo between primary and secondary tumors, potentially influencing growth, invasion, and drug resistance. As a result, exosomes are emerging as a source of valuable information for research into metastatic cancers. However, isolation and analysis of exosomes and their subpopulations can be challenging due to their small size and specificity. Leveraging targeted and sensitive isolation, detection, and analysis techniques can help address these challenges.
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Protein isolation for biomarker identification and clinical advancements
The study of proteins relevant to cancer helps provide crucial insights into cancer mechanisms, aiding in the identification of biomarkers, understanding tumor biology, and monitoring disease progression. Reliable protein isolation using modern technologies is essential to achieve the purity and yield needed for accurate downstream protein analysis that may ultimately support with the identification of therapeutic targets and development of diagnostic and prognostic tools.
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Automated liquid biopsy sample preparation
As liquid biopsy sampling and analysis advance into clinical applications, efficient and reliable workflow solutions are becoming increasingly crucial. Automating sample processing upfront of downstream analysis can help researchers increase consistency and generate reproducible results needed for clinical research and diagnostic product development.
Automate your sample prep
Isolate and purify DNA, RNA, cells, exosomes, and proteins using a single automated purification instrument. Stay flexible with multianalyte isolation options and customizable protocols.
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Cancer genomic and transcriptomic analysis
Molecular analysis of cancer through liquid biopsies is helping researchers understand its complexities in development and progression. Cancer genomic and cancer transcriptomic approaches in molecular profiling enable improved biomarker discovery which may lead to future identification and validation of diagnostic, predictive, prognostic, and therapeutic cancer biomarkers. Continued technological innovation with enhanced specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility has the potential to take liquid biopsy techniques into clinical practice.
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Analyzing cells and proteins as predictive and prognostic biomarkers
Analyzing cancer cells and their proteins enables researchers to understand the complex interactions and characteristics of tumors. Visualization of these cells and their contents provides us a view into specific cancer biology and treatment effects. At the protein level, we can reveal information around protein targets and signaling pathways related to cancer growth and metastasis. Proteomics, the large-scale study of proteins, has emerged as a key area in liquid biopsy research. Integrating proteomic data into liquid biopsy may enhance its utility by detecting and quantifying cancer-specific proteins and related biomarkers. As research progresses, understanding cell-to-cell interactions will help identify communication defects that alter normal cellular functions.
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OEM and commercial supply
OEM, commercial supply, and customized solutions will become increasingly important as clinical utility of liquid biopsy evolves to help ensure consistent access to reagents, assays, and instruments necessary for accurate and reliable biomarker detection. This consistency is key for developing and scaling diagnostic tests, maintaining regulatory compliance, and accelerating time to market. Reliable supply chains and specialized support from OEM partners help streamline product development and help ensure the robustness and reproducibility of liquid biopsy tests, ultimately enhancing their clinical utility and patient outcomes.
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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.