RareCyte CTC Liquid Tissue Biopsy Technology Showcased At AACR Annual Meeting

Presentations will highlight cancer applications of single-cell genomics, multi-parameter phenotyping and PDX models using RareCyte's platform.

Seattle, WA /PRNewswire/ - At the upcoming annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (New Orleans, April 16-20, 2016) RareCyte, Inc., its collaborators and customers will be presenting results from five collaborative oncology research projects. The presentations will report novel applications of the company's AccuCyte® - CyteFinder® - CytePicker® platform to identify, visually characterize, pick individual circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and perform single-cell molecular analysis. In aggregate, the results from the collaborations will demonstrate the technology's exceptional scientific value to current clinical research and and future translational medicine applications.

Presentations at the AACR meeting will include:

Evolving genomic profiles of individual CTCs during the course of treatment of a triple-negative breast cancer patient in the ITOMIC clinical trial. Analysis of mutations discovered in CTCs and circulating tumor DNA will be reported, providing valuable insight into cancer heterogeneity. (Presentation 498)

Studies of breast cancer patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. The investigation of CTCs and CTC clusters in detecting tumor-specific mutations will be described, along with preliminary results in understanding their predictive value for examining treatment response and long-term outcomes. (Presentation 3969)

A study of methods for whole genome amplification (WGA) as applied to a single CTC and small pools of CTCs. The findings show significance for the rapidly developing use of single-cell molecular information in selecting cancer therapeutics and monitoring cancer evolution. (Presentation 3615)

A prostate CTC study extending slide-based investigation to immunohistochemical analysis, 6-channel fluorescence phenotyping and molecular analysis of individual CTCs for identification of lineage-specific biomarkers and drug targets or resistance markers. (Presentation 4959)

A study demonstrating the utility of small blood volumes for CTC analysis. Data will show PDX lines used to validate small volume mouse blood samples for single CTC analysis using the RareCyte platform. (Presentation 646)

"We are delighted to see the presentation of results from these five studies," said Michael A. Nemzek, President of RareCyte. "They are representative of our many ongoing collaborations. Studies like these suggest a time soon when the benefits of single CTC analysis in liquid biopsies will become widely applicable for the assessment and treatment of cancer." Non-invasive liquid biopsies are widely thought to be a future standard allowing frequent assessment of tumor progression and any adjustment of treatment. Directly examining individual cancer cells within the blood with RareCyte technology enables the next generation of liquid tissue biopsies.

RareCyte's flagship platform, comprised of AccuCyte®, CyteFinder® and CytePicker® technologies, was commercialized in 2015. The company has established sales in the Americas, Europe and Asia and currently counts a large and growing list of customers and collaborators worldwide. RareCyte products will be on exhibit at AACR at booth 1759.

About RareCyte, Inc.
RareCyte is a life science company providing an easy-to-use, next-generation liquid biopsy platform for precise analysis and retrieval of rare, individual cells from blood samples. Its automated platform is used at leading academic institutions and commercial organizations in several countries performing a range of applications in oncology, prenatal testing and infectious disease. For more information about RareCyte, visit www.rarecyte.com.