Applications For Circulating Tumor Cells To Support Clinical Trials In Asia

By Ken Pennline, Ph.D., Vice President and, Global Head, Cytometry Services, LabCorp Clinical Trials

Advances in our understanding of cancer have accelerated the development of new diagnostics over the past decade. Now, when assessing the efficacy of an experimental drug, clinical trial teams can supplement traditional markers from tissue biopsies with assessments on circulating tumor cells (CTC). The rollout of such tests has, to date, largely been limited to Western markets, but this is changing.

In December 2012, the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, the regulatory agency for the largest emerging market, approved its first CTC diagnostic test.1 The approval, and the willingness to accept assessment and analysis of CTC, positions China to take part in the next generation of oncology development and treatment. One month after regulatory approval of the test, the LabCorp facility in Beijing became the first Chinese clinical reference laboratory to offer the service, giving study designers a new way to measure drug efficacy.