Talking epigenetics, Dr. Motoki Takaku mused from his office at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) that studying what\u2019s happening inside a cell is a bit like tuning a radio: there\u2019s signal, and there\u2019s noise.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a lot of noise.<\/p>\n
And all too often, he said, this noise interferes with researchers\u2019 ability to see cellular functions clearly \u2013 at least at the genetic level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to improve our ability to identify these signals so that our precision will be much higher,\u201d explained Takaku of his efforts to develop better DNA-based biomarkers and treatments for cancer. \u201cIf we can make these signals much cleaner, that will eventually lead to more confident diagnoses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortunately, for both providers and patients, that work is finally getting at least a bit easier, Takaku said, not only due to evolving technologies in the science of epigenetics, but through the study of something called cell-free DNA (cfDNA).<\/p>\n
Cancer is the result of genetic changes within cells and tissues, of course. When the altered cells that produce cancer are released by a tumor and enter the bloodstream, though, cancer can metastasize or spread. But even when cancer doesn\u2019t metastasize \u2013 in fact, when the cancer itself dies \u2013 it can leave fragments of altered DNA, separate from any cancer cell, in the patient\u2019s blood or urine.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s this cell free (or circulating free) DNA that, Takaku said, can now be isolated and analyzed in serum samples, aiding in the early detection and more effective treatment of cancer.<\/p>\n
According to the results of a study recently conducted by Takaku\u2019s team, in collaboration with Dr. Mamoru Takada at Chiba University in Japan, the pre- and post-treatment analysis of the cfDNA in cancer patients\u2019 blood can tell health professionals more accurately how various chemotherapies are working among patients with different genetic profiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe profiled cell-free DNA from more than 70 breast cancer patient samples and identified clear differences between breast cancer patients and healthy donors, as well as between patients before and after treatment,\u201d Takaku said of the paper his team published in the Nature<\/em>-affiliated journal Communications Medicine<\/em>. \u201cWe also observed patterns that may help distinguish between drug-resistant and drug-sensitive cases. These findings obviously have potential clinical implications.\u201d<\/p>\n Such implications include providers improving the likelihood of stopping cancer by getting patients the right<\/em> treatment sooner by knowing if a certain therapy is or isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n Put differently, because cfDNA patterns change after treatment and differ between patients undergoing the same treatment, cfDNA appears to serve as a simple biomarker that can help providers monitor treatment efficacy, predict patient response, and support personalized cancer care.<\/p>\n In this case, said Takaku, the research team explored how the chemotherapy drug abemaciclib affected the cfDNA of breast cancer patients.<\/p>\n Known as a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, abemaciclib works by dampening the function of the kinases (CDK4\/6) in the cancer cells that affect the cell division process, slowing cancer growth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe tried to analyze the difference between the DNA sequencing patterns before and after the treatment of this particular drug, and we saw some important changes,\u201d Takaku smiled. \u201cThis suggests that we can use this DNA-based technique to monitor the changes happening in the cancer cells. This will affect each patient\u2019s treatment, allowing us to see who responds well to this drug versus who doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Meaning, Takaku said, cfDNA could serve as the basis for a new blood test that more effectively \u00a0monitors the effects and efficacy of not only abemaciclib but any number of chemotherapies.<\/p>\n \u201cResearchers are desperate to have a better way to predict tumor origin and also better detection for when tumors are small,\u201d the researcher continued. \u201cBecause when you surgically remove tumors, we want to have a way to detect the added signs of metastases or recurrence. That\u2019s why we\u2019re trying to develop the new method.\u201d<\/p>\n All of which gets us back to the notion that the body itself is a type of radio full of both noise and signal. Calling DNA a \u201cvery noisy\u201d environment, Takaku offered that the next step in improving cancer treatment is improving the signal: clearing away the noise to truly see how cancer or the medications that kill it affect cellular function.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause each person has different reasons for their own genetic \u2018noise,\u2019 right?\u201d Takaku said. \u201cIt could be a sign of infection, or maybe someone has ongoing inflammation because of their exposure to a certain viruses. Or maybe it\u2019s just pain.\u201d<\/p>\n The key is understanding the reason for cellular noise, which often affects the \u201csignals\u201d in question.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we start isolating these individuals\u2019 noise, it might start making more sense for us.\u201d<\/p>\n To that end, Takaku concluded, his team is exploring the process of the commercialization of a host of potential products, including the use of nanotechnology in the body.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are actively developing a nano device to purify the DNA,\u201d he said. Such a device, if approved, would allow the user to \u201cwash\u201d the DNA in a given blood sample, clearing out the noise and allowing the researcher to see cellular processes with a minimum of static.<\/p>\n All with a minimum of resources, which can only benefit smaller, resource-strapped health systems.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel this will be very useful for rural health because if smaller hospitals don\u2019t have fancy machines or a big laboratory, we can provide this nano device, or they just need to send couple drops of blood to us and we can purify the DNA for analysis,\u201d Takaku said. \u201cOur initial study used very local blood samples \u2013 patient samples coming from North and South Dakota. Establishing a strong collaboration with our local hospitals is very important for me, so that we will have access to patients. I want to help all the patients in our state and advance a way to detect the cancer better<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Talking epigenetics, Dr. Motoki Takaku mused from his office at the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS) that studying what\u2019s happening inside a cell is a bit like tuning a radio: there\u2019s signal, and there\u2019s noise. Sometimes a lot of noise. And all too often, he said, this noise interferes with researchers\u2019 ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":15072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4096,2287,4095,4093,1729,4094,1758],"class_list":["post-15071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-abemaciclib","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cdk4-6","tag-cell-free","tag-chemotherapy","tag-cyclin-dependent-kinase","tag-dna"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAssessing chemotherapy<\/h3>\n
From noise to signal<\/h3>\n